High School
by Taylor Meyers
Summary: This is an alternate universe centered around the lives of the rangers in high school. Includes rangers right from MMPR to PRRPM.
1. Chapter 1

This is my first ever fanfic, I really hope you like it.

This is an alternate universe where the rangers are in high school, but it's not exactly your average high school.

**Disclaimer: I don't own the power rangers**

Summary: I kinda suck at these, but this fic is basically about the rangers as teenagers without ranger powers, with normal lives dealing with normal teenage stuff as well as a little action, adventure and romance. As for the pairings I'm gonna let you guess.

Chapter 1

Taylor Earhardt smiled to herself as she rode her bike to the main campus of Barrington Academy, a prestigious high school for the best of the best, in Turtle Cove. She was tall had a slim well toned athletic figure, golden blonde hair that was tied up into a French braid and the beautiful pair of sparkling blue eyes. She was wearing jeans and a black T- shirt highlighted with yellow.

Her smile widened as she saw the entrance, she was really happy to have been accepted at Barrington, it had been her dream to come here since she was a little girl, she was even more happy about the fact that her two best friends Jennifer Scotts and Alyssa Enrile would also be there, she hadn't seen them in almost two years, since she had moved to London.

Since her family was still in London, she was staying in one of the residential complexes that the school has established for students living out of town. These were a little away from the school and consisted of two story houses which were shared by four students.

Taylor was sharing with three girls Tori Hanson, Madison Rocca and Elisabeth Delgado, she had met them a few days ago when she moved in and the four girls became friends at once. Taylor loved the fact that they were allowed to keep pets (as long as they took full responsibility for them) she had a golden retriever called Buddy, Tori had two gold fish called Lucky and Waldo.

Taylor put her bike in the stand and walked over to the administration building, she had to meet Mr. Collins the principal before class, and finalize her class schedule. Barrington Academy offered numerous special courses along with regular classes.

A few minutes later she walked out of the principal's office with her new class schedule and directions to her first class, she checked her watch and saw that if she didn't hurry she would be late and she hated being late. She broke into a run as soon as she left the building, she looked at her watch again and WHAM she bumped into someone, knocking both their things as well as herself to the ground.

"I'm so sorry" she said as she gathered herself, without looking up she began picking up the things that didn't belong to her.

"I was trying to get to class on time and wasn't looking and…."

"Apparently you weren't" said a boy's voice

She looked up at him as she handed over his stuff, he was tall, broad shouldered, athletically built with dark hair, his eyes were hidden by dark sunglasses. He was wearing jeans with a black T-shirt and a red and black jacket that had a gold D on it. She stared at him, what was his problem she did apologize and besides it wasn't all her fault, he should have been watching where he was going as well. He looked from her to the schedule and directions lying on the ground and muttered

"Newbie"

"What" said Taylor looking at him with distaste; she was starting to get really annoyed.

"Nothing" said the boy, as the bell rang, he smirked and began walking away. He hadn't gone very far when he turned and said

"Next time watch where you're going blondie, and mind the speed limit" he smirked again at the less than happy expression on Taylor's face and walked away.

Taylor stood there fuming, till she realized she was already late for class, she quickly picked up her things and sped off to class.

Please review.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for the reviews. Sorry I still haven't come up with a better title but I'm working on it. This is chapter 2 I hope you like it.

Chapter 2

Taylor rushed to her class, she knew she was late and there was nothing she could do about it. She found her class, stood out for a moment and took a deep breath, she was about to knock on the door when it opened and she found herself face to face with a woman with long dark hair, wearing glasses and a neat ensemble consisting of a brown pencil skirt and a white shirt.

"Ms. Earhardt I presume" she said.

Taylor nodded

"Come in"

As Taylor walked into class everyone stopped talking and turned towards her, mostly because they were surprised to see her but Jen noticed many boys giving her appreciative glances and had to try extremely hard not to laugh.

Taylor always attracted attention from guys, whether she wanted to or not and more often than not she didn't want to.

"Class, this is Taylor Earhardt, she has just transferred to Barrington, I trust you will all make her feel at home and help her get settled" said their teacher Ms. Fairweather.

To Taylor, "I'll let it slide today but as Mr. Meyers can tell you I don't deal well with late comers."

The whole class snickered and Wesley Meyers shifted in his seat, smiling.

"I'm very sorry about that ma'm" said Taylor "It won't happen again.

"I'm sure it won't" said Ms. Fairweather smiling "why don't you take a seat next to miss Scotts" she gestured to where Jen was sitting.

Taylor nodded and took a seat between Jen and Alyssa at the back of the class.

They were half way through class when a note came in for Ms. Fairweather and she had to leave. The class immediately began talking animatedly; Taylor however just sat in her seat quietly.

"What's wrong?" asked Alyssa

"Nothing" replied Taylor

"Oh really" said Jen leaning towards her "do you really expect us to believe that, since when is Taylor Earhardt ever late for anything….. And why do you look like you want to kill someone" she added in an undertone.

Taylor couldn't help but smile her friends could always tell when was mad at someone no matter how hard she tried to hide it, after all they had known each other since preschool and were inseparable till she had to move in their last year of junior high.

"It's nothing" she said "I just ran into this total jerk this morning that's all"

"Spill" said Jen.

And so she told her friends about what happened earlier that morning.

"You didn't hit him, did you?" asked Alyssa

Both girls knew Taylor's tomboyish attitude well, she absolutely hated being called things like 'blondie', if someone did they usually ended up with their limbs facing the wrong way or with a couple of broken bones.

"No" said Taylor "but I wanted to"

Jen laughed causing other students to look at her, that was just like Taylor.

Half an hour later, Taylor was walking down the corridor to her next class with Alyssa and Jen walking on either side. Jen was almost the same height as Taylor and had an athletic figure; she had shoulder length dark brown hair and eyes. She was wearing a knee length checked skirt with a pink tank top and a black jacket.

Alyssa was shorter than the other two and had a petite figure; she had short dark hair with highlights and brown eyes. She was wearing a white skirt with a light pink shirt.

"Alyssa, Jen wait up" they heard someone call out. The three girls stopped walking and turned. A boy tall, well built with blonde hair and light eyes walked up to them. He was wearing jeans and a red and white T-shirt, behind him was another boy of about the same height; he had a strong build, messy dark hair and brown eyes. He was wearing jeans with a red T-shirt that had a gold lion emblazoned on it. Taylor recognized them from class.

"Hey girls" said the boy who had called out to them earlier

"Hi Wes, Cole" said Alyssa smiling though Taylor noticed her blush slightly when she saw Cole.

"Hey guys" said Jen "and what do you want?" she added rudely to Wes

"Hey" said Wes pretending to be taken aback "aren't you going to introduce to me to you pretty friend here first"

Taylor gave him a look that said _who do you think you are?_ but laughed along with Jen and Alyssa when the other guy whacked him on the head

"Sorry about him" he said "it's nice to meet you Taylor" he held out his hand.

"I'm Cole Evans and this is my friend Wesley Meyers"

Taylor shook his hand and smiled he seemed like a nice guy.

"It's Wes" said the other boy as she shook his hand as well.

"So what class do you girls have next?" Wes asked

"Chemistry" said Taylor and Jen

"History" said Alyssa

"Ah… well" said Wes dramatically "At lest I have one pretty girl to accompany me" said Wes dramatically

Everyone laughed

"We'd better go" said Alyssa "Mr. Hartford won't like it if we're late.

Wes nodded. "I'll see you guys later" said Alyssa as the two of them waved and walked down the corridor to their history class.

Taylor saw a flash of annoyance on Cole's face and smiled to herself.

"So Cole, what class do you have?" she asked, he turned towards her and said

"Chemistry, the same as you two"

"Shall we go then?" asked Jen, the other two nodded and the three of them continued to walk down the corridor

"I'm really sorry about Wes", Cole said to Taylor "he just can't help it"

"Don't worry about it Cole" said Jen "Tay's used to it by now" she laughed

"Jen" Taylor hissed, which made her laugh even more.

"Its fine" said Taylor "you don't have to apologize"

Cole smiled

"So what about you?" she asked

"What do you mean?" asked Cole

They continued talking as they climbed the stairs to their chemistry class, Taylor found that she liked Cole, sure he was a bit of a chatterbox and a little annoying, but she could tell that he was a pretty cool guy, totally Alyssa's type

Once in class their teacher Dr. Manx gave them all partners, Cole was partnered with a girl he had introduced earlier as Dana Mitchell, Jen's partner was someone called Leo Corbett and old friend of theirs as for Taylor she was partnered with a tall boy with dark hair and eyes who wore glasses, he was wearing jeans with a green shirt.

"Cameron Watanabe" he said holding out his hand "but everyone calls me Cam"

"Taylor Earhardt" she said as she shook his hand.

As class progressed Taylor found her lab partner very interesting, he was intelligent, but not much of a talker but was still pretty cool.

After class Taylor, Cole and Cam headed off to math class, Jen had history.

In class Cole introduced her to his other best friend Carter Grayson. One of her house mates Tori was also in the same class; Taylor soon found out that she and Cam were good friends. Also in class were two of her close friends from junior high Kelsey Winslow and Katie Walker, the two girls were surprised but thrilled to see Taylor again.

Well WHAT DO YOU THINK?

I know this one was a bit of a bore but it will get interesting in the later chapters, this is basically just an introduction.

I know I messed up a little with Wes and Cole's personalities but needed to, to make this work.

Also for the record Wes and Eric Are brothers.

Please review


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks for the reviews.

I hope your enjoying the story so far.

Chapter 3

After her math class Taylor met Alyssa and Jen in the cafeteria for lunch, they were joined by Tori, Dana, Z, Madison, Kelsey and Katie. They were enjoying themselves talking, Taylor even met some more of her friends from junior high they were just as if not more surprised than Kelsey and Katie were to see her.

She could see Wes, Cole and Carter and some of their other friends sitting at a table far from them, she saw Cam sitting at a table near the wall laptop open, with two other boys she had seen in some class or the other. She also saw lots of people she didn't recognize at all, Alyssa told her that they were probably Upperclassmen since they had the same lunch time but usually took the tables outside on the lawn.

The girls were laughing at something Dana had said, they suddenly stopped and turned along with everyone else when they heard a commotion at the other end of the cafeteria.

They saw a girl with violent pink hair, behind her was another girl with raven black hair; both girls were glaring at a green haired boy who was bent over picking up his books.

"Look at what you've done, you freak" screeched the pink haired girl

"I…I…I'm so…so…sorry" stuttered the boy "It wa….was an accident"

"An accident" shrieked the girl waving her empty lunch tray, its contents scattered on the floor, the juice bottle had opened and spilt all over his books as well a small part of her shoe.

"You ruined my brand new shoes"

"I'm really sorry" said the boy as he stood up carrying his now juice drenched books

"Your being sorry isn't going to fix what you did to Nadira's shoes now is it?" said the raven haired girl.

"Leave him alone" two boys came up behind the green haired boy, one was short and had curly hair and was wearing blue, the other was taller and of a stronger build he had short black hair and wore glasses, he was wearing black.

Both girls glared at them and they both shrank back.

"Why don't you leave them all alone" said a voice, everyone in the cafeteria turned to see who the speaker was, it was Taylor.

"What?"

"I said why don't you leave them all alone" she said as she walked up to them and stood in front of the green haired boy.

"It was just an accident and he did apologize, besides their just shoes, I think he got he worst of it" she gestured to his damaged books.

"Just shoes" said both girls appalled.

"Their Parada originals" said the raven haired girl, she was about to say something else but her friend stopped her. She looked at Taylor from head to foot

"But that's something you wouldn't know anything about now would you?" she smirked

Taylor smirked right back at her "At least I'm not the one shrieking my head off because someone accidentally spilt a few drops of juice on my shoes."

The whole cafeteria laughed, even those sitting outside tried to get a look at what was going on inside. Both girls glared at her and she glared right back at them.

The pink haired girl was about to say something but stopped when she saw a teacher pass by the door. She took a step towards Taylor and whispered

"I'll let you get away with it this time, you better watch out you have no idea who you're messing with" she stalked passed Taylor and the boys the raven haired girl in tow.

Without a second thought Taylor walked back to her table and sat down, her friends were all staring at her.

"What?" she asked

"That was awesome" said a voice behind her.

She turned to see all three boys standing there.

"Uh…. Thanks" said Taylor looking at them with a confused look on her face

"Hi," said the short boy with curly hair "I'm Max Cooper and the guys are Trip Von and Danny Delgado" he gestured to the green haired boy and the boy with glasses in turn.

"What you did back there was amazing?" the other two boys nodded.

"Taylor Earhardt" she said "and it was nothing"

"Thanks" said Trip "really, thanks a lot"

Taylor smiled and said "It was no problem, but you guys shouldn't let her push you around like that."

"You shouldn't have done that though" said Trip then trailed off

"Don't worry about it" said Alyssa reassuringly

"Yeah" said Jen "Tay's more than a match for Nadira and Toxica and if you want to worry about someone worry about those two there's no telling what Tay will do to them if they try to pull something" she, Alyssa, Katie and Kelsey burst out laughing. Taylor glared at her friend.

"Tay's right though bro" Z said turning to her brother Danny "you guys shouldn't let her push you around like that"

"Easier said than done sis" said Danny "it's more trouble than I'd like"

"Fair enough" said Z, Tori Madison and Dana nodded.

"Am I missing something here?" Taylor asked the group at large.

"I told you about my older brother Danny didn't I?" said Z gesturing to Danny who by now had joined the table along with the other boys.

"You did, and I figured it was him since you both have the same last name, but I wasn't talking about that, I meant this whole deal with this Nadira character"

"Well.." said Alyssa "the thing is Nadira's dad is on the board of directors and if anyone well gave her any trouble or tried to stand up to her they almost always got into serious trouble"

"Daddy's little princess" said Taylor

"Most definitely" said Jen "and inspite of what I said earlier, you'd better be careful, she just got shown up by a freshman, she's probably furious right now"

"But it was about time someone stood up to her" said Dana "she's in the same year as my brother, apparently she's been like that ever since she first came to Barrington"

"Inspite of that she's still the most popular girl at school" said Madison

"And co-captain of the cheer squad" aid Dana

"Gave us hell when we tried out" said Jen, Dana nodded

"Even the senior captain Sydney wasn't so hard on us" said Dana.

"She reminds me of someone from junior high" said Taylor

"Cassidy?" asked Kelsey

Taylor nodded

"She and Nadira would really make a pair, two of the biggest bimbets I ever saw" said Katie

Everyone couldn't help but laugh laughed.

Once classes ended for the day, all the students went to their various activities. Jen, Alyssa and Taylor were walking out of the main building into the grounds.

"So what do you guys want to do now?" asked Taylor

"Actually" said Jen "I have to go to cheerleading practice and I'm meeting Alex later"

Taylor smiled Alex was two years older than them and used to go to the same junior high as them, he had Jen had been dating for almost a year now. Alex was a good student and athlete, Jen had told her that he was the captain of the soccer team at Barrington. He was overall a nice guy but for some reason Taylor didn't like the fact that he was dating Jen, it wasn't that she was jealous or anything she just didn't think he was the right guy for Jen. Since that clearly would not be enough for Jen she didn't say anything.

"How is Alex anyway? I've barely seen him since he graduated" she asked

"He's fine" replied Jen "Why don't you come by the field later? you can say hi"

"Not today" said Taylor

"Ok then some other time" said Jen , she checked her watch "I gotta go or I'll be late for practice. See you guys tomorrow" with that she waved and sped off.

"What about you?" Taylor asked Alyssa

"I have a meeting with the editor of the school paper, by the way when do you join?" Alyssa replied

"Not until next week" said Taylor

"So what are you going to now?"

"I guess I'll go home get started with all that homework we've got and catch up with everything I missed for the last two weeks, thanks for letting me borrow your notes"

"No problem, I gotta go now, see you tomorrow" She waved and walked towards the building where her meeting was scheduled.

Taylor stood where she was and looked across the grounds students were running to and fro some in training uniforms. She sighed before heading towards the place she had left her bike. This time she was glad she didn't run into anyone, all she really wanted to do was go home and relax her first day was far from what she expected it to be.

Taylor walked into her room, it wasn't very large nor was it very small, the walls were painted a nice shade of yellow that matched the bed spread. There was a night stand with a lamp on it next to the bed as well as a study desk with her own personal computer. There was also a small balcony attached to the room

She put her backpack, books and keys on her desk and collapsed on her bed. What a day it had been, true it wasn't all bad but it could have been much better.

First there was that jerk she ran into who made her lat for class and nearly got her into trouble on her first day. Then there was the incident with that girl Nadira and her near miss of getting sent to detention from Mr. Logan their math teacher but then again the whole thing was Wes's fault.

But other than that it was pretty good she thought she did get to see many of her old friends, as well as meet many new people some she liked ore than others though.

She sighed as she sat up and went to the balcony she stood there her hands resting on the railing lost in thought. She didn't even hear the knock on her door or Tori enter with Buddy in tow, she only realized they were there when her golden retriever jumped on her and knocked her to the floor.

"Buddy stop" she said trying to keep him from licking her face, eventually he stopped and let her stand up.

"Hey Tori" she said only just realizing she was there.

"Hey" Tori replied "is he always like that?"

"Since he was a puppy" said Taylor "Don't you have practice? she asked remembering that Tori was on the swim team.

"No they're cleaning out the pools so we got a break from practice, I didn't disturb you did I?"

"No I just got home"

Both girls sat on Taylor's bed Buddy found a comfortable spot for himself at the foot of the bed.

"So do you know what you're going to wear to the party on Friday?" asked Tori

"What party?" Taylor asked confused

"Oh right you're new… sorry" she added seeing the look on Taylor's face.

"It's this sort of mixer they have every year at the school, mind you it's only one of the numerous parties they have at the school throughout the year and all of them are mandatory, makes you wonder if it really is a school"

Both girls laughed.

"Anyways" Tori continued "all the freshmen, upperclassmen and seniors will be there, it's kinda one of those things that helps you get to your seniors and stuff, I know it sounds like a drag but Blake told me that they're always fun, this year they're having it o the open lawn behind the senior's building."

"Sounds neat" said Taylor in an uncertain tone "but are you sure it's mandatory?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well parties aren't really my thing"

"Come on" said Tori as she got off the bed and walked towards the desk "It'll be fun all of us are going to be there" Taylor looked at her with one eyebrow raised.

"Ok, Ok so I'm going with Blake, Maddie's going with Nick, Jen's going with Alex and Dana's going with Carter. But Katie, Kelsey and Alyssa will be there"

Taylor couldn't help but laugh "What about Z?" she asked

"Oh she and Sky will be doing that we're best friends and even though I really like you I'm not gonna tell you thing they always do" she shrugged and picked up one of the frames on the desk.

"You never thought that they might just be best friends" said Taylor

"That's what the other's say but I dunno when I see them I just get the feeling that they really like each other" replied Tori

"Maybe, I haven't met Sky yet, or Blake or Nick for that matter, so I can't really say"

"Blake's an upperclassman so you might not meet him till Friday, as for Sky and Nick you'll see them tomorrow in class, who's the great looking guy?" she asked pointing to the frame she was holding. It was a photograph of Taylor standing next to a tall boy with blond hair and blue eyes, he had his arm around Taylor and Buddy and a German Sheppard sitting at their feet.

Taylor laughed when she saw the picture her friend was holding, she walked over and scratched Buddy behind the ears before answering

"That's my older brother Tyler"

"Oh" Tori put the frame down then rounded on her friend "So do you have any plans for right now?"

"Not yet"

"Great" Tori said as she grabbed Taylor's wrist and pulled her towards the door.

"Where are we going?" Taylor asked standing her ground.

"Shopping" Tori exclaimed excitedly

"Tori"

"Oh come on Tay it'll be fun, I need help finding something for Friday's party, please"

"Alright I'll come" said Taylor "let me get my phone and my keys first"

"Great I'll meet you down stairs" said Tori as she rushed out of the room

Taylor shook her head as she went over to her desk she put her cell phone and keys in her pocket and put her wallet and Buddy's leash in a small backpack grabbed her jacket and turned to her pet and one of her best friends

"Wanna go for a walk?" she asked

"Woof" was the answer she got

"Come on then" she said as she headed to the door, Buddy raced past her and down the stairs, she laughed as she let herself out and closed the door behind her.

Hope you liked that,

Please let me know what you think


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks again for the reviews

Chapter 4

Taylor smiled as she walked down the corridor, it was Thursday and today she would attend the first of her special courses, her first class was aviation and she was looking forward to it she had always loved planes and had always dreamt of flying as high as possible ever since her first plane ride, she couldn't wait.

Her second day of school had been great so far no jerks, no sassy princesses and she was on time for all her classes and in a few moments she would be attending a class she had been looking forward to for a long time.

She was sitting in her class very excited she couldn't help but look around the class room where pictures and diagrams adorned the walls.

"You really like planes, don't you?"

"Huh" she turned to see who had spoken and saw a tall boy with slightly long black hair he was wearing jeans with a white T-shirt with a picture of a wolf on it and a blue and silver jacket.

"Yeah I do" she said

Just then their teacher Mr. Rawlings entered in a hurry. He was tall and had tanned skin, he wore brown pants, an olive green shirt with a light brown vest and a beige cowboy hat.

The boy took the seat next to Taylor.

"Good morning everyone" he said as he put his books on his table and turned to the board and put down a few topics before tuning to his register.

"Alright then, we have a new student with us this term, Ms. Earhardt" he looked around the class and Taylor raised her hand.

"Ok, then Ms. Earhardt you'll be needing a partner" he checked his register again

"It looks like the only person without a partner is Ms. Hammond and she won't be joining us this term so that puts us in a bit of a pickle" he looked over at her and then at the boy who was sitting next to her.

"Well, I suppose I could pair you up with my teaching assistant" he gestured to the boy who had spoken to her earlier.

"I trust that won't be a problem Mr. Baliton"

"No sir" said the boy

For half an hour Mr. Rawlings talked non-stop about air currents and Taylor just soaked it in. the boy sitting next to her couldn't help but smile at the eager look on her face. As soon as Mr. Rawlings left for his meeting he turned to her

"So Ms. Earhardt you think you're cut out for this class?" he asked

"I will be as soon as you bring me up to date Mr. Baliton" she said

"It's Merrick"

"Taylor"

Merrick looked at her she was witty he was starting to like this new girl.

They spent the rest of the lesson going over what had been covered over the past two weeks but Merrick was surprised to find out that Taylor already knew a lot about planes and flying. He found it very easy to talk to her which was weird because he wasn't much of a people person and could only talk like this to his closest friends not someone he met for the first time. But by the end of the lesson it was clear that they would be close friends.

"So what class do you have now?" Merrick asked as they left the classroom

"Creative writing, you?"

"Uh... music" he said shyly

"Really I take music too, but I don't have that till tomorrow what instrument do you play?"

"The flute" he said "what about you?"

"Guitar"

He nodded

"I have to go" said Taylor "or I'll be late, so I'll see you tomorrow morning"

"Actually no, I have a meeting with our career counselor tomorrow, part of the woes of being a senior" he shrugged

"I'll see you at the party then"

"Oh yeah I forgot about that don't like them very much. I'll see you then"

After that they both hurried to their next class.

Taylor was happy to see Alyssa in her next class; creative writing was the only special course they had together. They were sitting up front and were discussing what had been covered so far so that Taylor wouldn't fall behind.

"Hey Alyssa" a girl with blonde hair walked up to them, she was wearing a yellow T-shirt with a denim skirt.

"Hey Kira" said Alyssa before gesturing towards Taylor "this is one of my oldest and closest friends Taylor Earhardt, Tay (she gestured towards Kira) this is Kira Ford, she's in your music class she plays the guitar as well"

"It's nice to meet you Kira" said Taylor

"You too" said Kira as she sat down next to them "I've been looking forward to meeting you"

"You have?" Taylor asked surprised

"Yeah Jen and Alyssa have told all of us all about you, and Tori mentioned that you were the one who stood up to Nadira in the cafeteria yesterday. I really wish I was there it sounded like it was worth watching"

"It was" said Alyssa smiling "how was your trip?"

"It was fine" said Kira

"Trip?" asked Taylor

"Yeah my parents sought of dragged me to my aunt's house for some family thing, I still don't get how the school gave me permission but you know" she shrugged "anyway did you guys get your assignments?"

"No" Alyssa answered "we're getting them today I can't wait"

"Me too" said Kira "But then again they never give the freshmen any cool things to write about, what about you Taylor?"

"I guess I'm more excited to see how this system works" said Taylor

"All right class no more talking" said their teacher as she walked in and class began.

Friday after noon came too soon for Taylor she was sitting on the floor of her bedroom resting her back against her bed while scratching Buddy's ears.

On Fridays they only had half a day of classes and the rest of the day to do as they pleased. It was usually spent practicing for sport events or catching up on homework or other extra curricular activities however today all activities were canceled at the school because of the party in the evening.

Taylor was sitting in her room with Z talking so far her day had gone well; she had met Kira in her music class that morning and they both became very close and her aviation class was as enjoyable as it could be. But right now she was dreading the party that evening she wasn't much of a party person and hated dressing up but she couldn't help it was mandatory.

Later that evening

Taylor surveyed herself in her mirror she was wearing slim black capri pants, a black tank top with a yellow off shoulder pullover and black strappy sandals. Tori and Madison despite her many protests insisted on picking out her outfit and after much arguing she gave in but point blank refused to let them do her make-up.

She brushed her long blonde hair and clipped it so that it still fell over her shoulders; she put on some lip gloss and was ready. She wasn't too dressed up nor was she underdressed for the event, just the way she liked it, it wasn't exactly what she would have picked out but it didn't deter to far away from who she was.

She went down stairs and was watching T.V in the living room while waiting for her friends to come down when the door bell rang she turned off the T.V and went to answer the door.

There were two guys standing in the doorway one was tall had blond hair and was wearing jeans with a white shirt and a red and black jacket.

The other was a little shorter had dark hair and was wearing jeans with a red shirt and black jacket.

"Hi" said Taylor as she opened the door she pretty much guessed who they were "Come on in Z and Maddie should be down in a sec"

"You know who we are?" asked the shorter of the two

"I'm guessing your Nick" she pointed at him and them turned to the other boy "and your Sky"

Sky laughed while Nick looked a little shocked

"It's nice to meet you Taylor" said Sky holding out his hand "Z said you were sharp"

Taylor smiled as she shook his hand and did the same with Nick

"That she is"

The three of them turned to the staircase where Z and Madison were coming down.

Madison was wearing an ensemble similar to Taylor's except that she was wearing a skirt and her pullover was blue.

Z had chosen to wear black pants with a sleeveless yellow top.

"Hey girls" said Sky calmly though Taylor couldn't help but notice the way he looked at Z maybe Tori was right after all.

"Hi" said Madison

"Shall we go?" asked Nick

"You guys go ahead" said Taylor "I'll wait for Tori"

"No you won't" said Z "you're coming with us" she walked back to the foot of the stairs and called out "Tor we're going"

They heard Tori shout out her response but none of them understood what she said. With that the five of them headed out.

Hey guys I know Merrick is a little out of character and has absolutely no inclination towards flying but I always though he and Taylor sought of understood each other really well and if they had spent more time together would have been really good friends not that they weren't.

Also the whole thing with the aviation class is kind of messed up I know but I needed to get them in the same class and Merrick just had to be a senior even I'm not sure why?

And there is the part where Taylor's into music it's out of character I know but I thought she should have some other interests other than flying and reading.

Hope you liked this Chapter.

Next Chapter: Eric and Taylor finally meet, the consequences?

Please Review.


	5. Chapter 5

Hey guys Chapter 5 is ready to go. Sorry it took me so long to update but I've having some problems with this chapter.

Thanks so much for all your reviews. I really like knowing what people think about my story.

I really hope you like this one.

Chapter 5

The party at Barrington Academy was in full swing and everyone was enjoying themselves. Taylor was sitting at one of the many circular tables that had been set up with Z, Sky and Alyssa. Maddie and Nick were dancing along with many other couples. Taylor could see Dana and Carter on the dance floor as well.

"Hey guys"

They all turned to see Jen walking towards them with a tall blond haired guy Taylor recognized as Alex.

"Hey Jen, Alex" the others said

"Alex you remember Taylor don't you?"

"Taylor?" he looked around confused "where?"

"You eye sight failing you there Bryant?" Taylor asked as she stood up.

"Taylor?" he said looking at her "Taylor Earhardt is that you? When did you turn into a girl?"

"Funny Bryant" said Taylor as she hugged him

"Sorry but really it's great to see you again and for the record you look great" he said

"Thanks, I think"

"You know Alex?" Sky asked

"Yeah" said Taylor as the three of them sat down "We went to the same junior high school"

"That was one hell of a year, never had a freshman yell me" said Alex

"You didn't" said Sky surprised that anyone would talk to their captain like that

"She did" said Kelsey as she and Katie joined them

"Gave it to him big time" said Katie

"All because he was being a tad bit to arrogant" said Alyssa

"C'mon guys ease up, senior present here" said Alex

"Hey captain"

"Alex"

Someone called, Alex waved before excusing himself and Jen before going over to join his friends.

"Wow I can't believe you yelled at a senior even if it was just junior high" said Sky

"It was just a bad situation, I used to have a very short temper and there were some things I just couldn't let go" said Taylor

"But it wasn't just that one time now was it" said Kelsey

The other girls couldn't help but laugh.

A little later Sky and Z went over to the buffet table and were talking to some friends of theirs and Katie and Kelsey were dancing with some boys that came up and asked them. Tori and Blake arrived not long after and were currently dancing. Alyssa and Taylor were still sitting at their table.

"This is some party huh" said Taylor but she didn't get a response so she turned and saw Alyssa staring at the buffet table or rather someone standing near the buffet table she smiled and was about to say something when a girl with long brown hair wearing white came up to them

"Hey Alyssa" she said

"Oh Shayla hi" said Alyssa coming out of her trance.

"Tay, this is Shayla Masters she's a senior and also the editor of the school paper. Shayla this is Taylor Earhardt one of my closest friends"

"Hi it's nice to meet you" said Taylor

"And you" said Shayla "I heard a lot about you and I'll be glad to have you on board from next week. Lyssa have you seen Kendall I can't seem to find her"

"No I haven't, if I see I'll tell her you're looking for her" said Alyssa.

"Thanks" said Shayla "I have to go, it was nice meeting you Taylor" Taylor smiled as she took off in a hurry

"That was….." Taylor began but was interrupted when Max and Trip came up to them.

"Hey girls"

"Oh hi Max, Trip" said Alyssa

Taylor nodded

"Where's Danny?" asked Alyssa

"He's talking to some people from his club" said Trip

"We were on our way to find him when we saw you two sitting here and thought we'd come say hi" said Max

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Taylor and Alyssa were standing near the buffet table each with a glass of soda in hand

"Wow there sure are….." began Alyssa but stopped when she saw Taylor wave to someone, she turned and froze when she saw who it was and that he was coming their way

"Hey girls" he said

"Hi Cole" said Taylor smiling

"Hi" said Alyssa meekly making Taylor want to laugh

"So are you guys enjoying the party?"

Alyssa nodded but Taylor gave him a wry look making him shrug

"Where's Wes?" asked Alyssa getting it together

"Busy flirting" said Cole shaking his head

"Hey guys" Carter called as he and Dana joined them

"Hi Carter, Dana" said Alyssa

"Hey" said Taylor while Cole nodded

"Wes up to the usual then" said Carter

"You got it" said Cole making everyone smile.

"Did I hear someone talking about me?" Wes asked as he came up behind them putting his arms around his best friends shoulders

"Now who would want to talk about you" said Jen before anyone else could say anything as she joined the group.

Wes faked a hurt look making everyone laugh. They were enjoying themselves having fun most of the time at Wes's expense but he didn't seem to mind so much in fact he seemed to be enjoying himself and had this weird look on his face which no one but Taylor noticed but after a particular remark from Jen his countenance changed completely and he bit back with a rather harsh remark of his own which took everyone by surprise even Wes himself

"I…uh.." he tried to apologize but Jen walked away a hurt look on her face.

"Dude where did that come from?" asked Carter as Dana ran after Jen ,Alyssa and Taylor new better and let her be for the time being they would talk to her later.

"Really Wes is that any way to talk to a girl?" said a boy with spiky raven hair as he came up and nudged him on the head next to him were two other boys and Taylor got the feeling that she had met one of them before.

"Knock it off" said Wes

"Luke's right little bro you really need to learn how to be a bit more polite" said the boy standing in the middle

"Yeah like you know so much about being polite" said Taylor rather fiercely.

Ok so that's it for now, this chapter didn't turn out the way I wanted it to infact I think it really bites if you get my meaning. Anyways I guess it'll have to do for now. I'm really sorry I promise I'll try to make future chapters a whole lot better but for now please let me know what you think of this one.


	6. Chapter 6

Hey guys Chapter 6 is ready to go

Once again Thanks for the reviews.

Before I proceed I kinda need a little help with something. The thing is I need some new characters and I'm seriously confused as to which rangers to pick so if anyone has any requests right from Mighty Morphin to Jungle Fury let me know , also if there you have any kind of relationship requests let me know that as well. I would really help me with this story.

Anyways now on with the story.

_Chapter 6_

Eric Meyers was a little taken back by the girl in front of him, no one ever talked to him like that even though it was extremely annoying girls usually fell at his feet so to say. He was pretty sure he hadn't met her before but he had to admit she was quite pretty. Unlike most of the other girls her outfit was simple yet she carried herself well, he couldn't help but notice her golden blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes.

Recognition dawned as he stared into her beautiful blue eyes but before he could say anything Wes interrupted

"Uh….. do you two know each other?" he asked looking from his brother to Taylor the confused look on his face reflecting the expression on the other's faces.

"Fortunately no" said Taylor before walking away.

"Ok what just happened?" asked Carter

The spiky haired boy nudged the blond

"Hey Ry I think we found that newbie Eric ran into" he said

"You know what Luke , I think your right" said Ryan smiling

"Eric now didn't you tell us that the newbie was hot and by hot I mean hot!!" said Lucas

"Knock it off you guys" said Eric glaring at his too best friends

"Guys what's going on, Eric how do you know Taylor?" asked Wes

"Taylor" repeated Lucas "I'll have to remember that"

Taking pity on the look of utmost confusion that now dawned on Wes's face Alyssa decided to put him out of his misery.

"They ran into each other on Taylor's first day" she said making everyone turn towards her "and apparently Eric didn't make much of an impression" she finished

"Seriously" said Carter and Cole together.

They were shocked as were Lucas and Ryan they were so used to seeing girls falling all over Eric even though he barely even noticed them most of the time something like this was, was well it just had never happened before .

Alyssa sighed then said "She's got a fiery temper and tends to flare up pretty fast, and definitely isn't your typical teenage girl so don't be surprised if she flares up at someone else pretty soon, but she really is a great person, anyways I should go check on Jen"

"What about Taylor?" asked Cole

"Oh' don't worry about her" said Alyssa softly as she turned to leave, "she'll be fine, she's tougher than you think." with that she went in search of Jen.

"Well at least that proves one thing" said Lucas

"Huh what's that?" asked Wes

"That there are girls out there who have some common sense"

"What do you mean?"

"He means, that there are girls or at least one girl who didn't fall head over heals for him after meeting him once" said Ryan

Eric just rolled his eyes before walking away with his two best friends in tow.

Meanwhile Taylor just kept going she wasn't sure where but she had to keep walking after a few minutes she started to calm down how she hated arrogant jocks but she decided to try and forget about it, it just wouldn't do for to flare up like that every time she saw him or met someone like him.

She was so lost in thought she didn't realize that she was now standing at the far end of the lawn a little away from where the party was. She saw a solitary figure leaning against a tree and smiled as she recognized who it was.

"Hey" she said as she walked up to him.

He turned to look at her and she was a little uncertain about his eyes they looked a lot darker than last time.

"Do I know you?" he asked rather coldly.

"Uh..." Taylor began a little confused.

"Of course you don't" said a voice, Taylor turned to see who the speaker was and her eyes went wide.

"Hey Taylor" said the newcomer and Taylor recognized Merrick immediately but then who was that standing by the tree they were identical except that one of them was wearing blue and the other black.

"Uh... hi" she said

"I see you've met my brother Zen" said Merrick

"Your brother... you're twins"

"Obviously" said Zen

"Sorry I didn't know" she said

All Zen did was make a sound and walk away into the darkness

"Don't let him get to you" said Merrick "he thinks he's better off keeping to himself"

"And what about you?" she asked

"I used to be like that but I learnt my lesson a few years ago" he replied "so what about you why are you here?"

"My temper got the best of me" she said slowly

He laughed a little at the look on her face "I take it that happens a lot"

"Not as often as it used" she said now smiling as well

"Why did you come out here?" she asked

"When it comes to parties I uh... well"

"They're not your thing" she offered and he nodded

"I take it it's the same for you" she nodded as well

"Want to go for a walk?" he asked

"Sure"

A little later Taylor rejoined the party in a much better mod than when she left; Merrick had gone of with some of his friends

"Taylor" she turned when she heard someone call her name it was Wes.

"Hey guys" she said as she walked over to where Wes was standing with Cole and Carter.

"Sorry about my brother" said Wes "sometimes he can be harsh without knowing it"

"Don't worry about it" said Taylor "I guess I was blaming him for a really bad day and my temper got the best of me, that doesn't mean I don't think he wasn't being an ass though"

"You're probably the first to think that" said Carter

Taylor was a little confused but decided not to further into it

"Have you guys seen Alyssa" she asked

"She went to check on Jen" said Cole

"K, I guess I'll see you guys Monday" with that she waved and went off to find her friends.

Later that night Eric was driving home with Lucas and Ryan but he hardly heard a word they were saying he couldn't help but think of the girl from earlier.

"Hey Eric, Eric, earth to Eric" shouted Lucas

"Huh what?" asked Eric coming out of his revere

"Dude you okay, you were miles away just then" said Ryan

"I'm fine" he grunted

"You wouldn't happen to be thinking about a certain blonde newbie now would you" asked Lucas with a sly smile.

Eric groaned Lucas and Ryan had given him hell following their encounter with the girl but as usual had dropped the topic and moved on to teasing someone else.

"Why would I do that" he said

"Eric" said Ryan

"Seriously why would I waste my time thinking about her, I could just tell she was trouble" said Eric

"Just your type" said Ryan

"You have got to be kidding" said Eric.

* * *

That's the end of Chapter6

I'm not so sure about it but I hope you liked it

Please Review


	7. Chapter 7

Thanks for the reviews.

Chapter 7 is ready to go.

_Chapter 7_

It was early Saturday morning and Taylor was running through the streets of Turtle Cove, her old neighborhood like she did every morning with Buddy running alongside her.

She was wearing a black tracksuit with a yellow T-shirt with joggers to match; her hair was tied up in a high pony tail.

This morning she chose to go the park, a place she hadn't visited in a long time but still held a lot of memories for her.

As she ran through familiar surroundings she couldn't help but think about her first week at Barrington, her friends old and new and of course that absolute jerk.

She sighed when she thought of all the work she needed to catch up on and then remembered she had to go to dinner at her aunt's.

The alarm on her wrist watch beeped telling her it was time to go home.

She got home to find Madison in the kitchen still in her blue pj's getting started on breakfast.

"Morning" she said as refilled Buddy's bowls with water and dog food and set them out side for him.

"Morning" said Madison "you're up early"

"Always am" Taylor replied smiling "where are the others?"

Madison shrugged "Probably still in bed, do you want some breakfast?"

"Sure" said Taylor "Let me just grab a quick shower first"

A few minutes later found all four girls sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast.

"So Tay" said Tori "We heard what happened last night?"

"Huh?" said Taylor as she looked up from her pancakes

"Yeah" said Z "Heard you gave Eric Myers the brush off" as she poured herself some juice.

"Eric Myers" said Madison surprised "That's Wes's brother isn't it?"

Tori nodded as she took a bite out of her pancakes.

"Well" said Z as she sipped her juice.

Taylor sighed "It's nothing" said Taylor "it's just that there's this thing about jocks, especially arrogant one's that just … I don't know … they just really get to me and I'm not known to be able to keep my temper"

"What makes you think Eric's arrogant?" asked Madison

"You remember that guy I told you about, the one I ran into on my first day" said Taylor

"The total jerk, yeah" said Z while Madison nodded

"No way that was Eric?" said Tori

"The one and only" said Taylor "Why is this such a big deal anyway?"

"It's not really" said Tori

"It's just that no one dares mess with him" said Z

"You guys know him?" asked Taylor

"Not personally" said Z "Danny and my cousin Jack are in the same year him and Jack and he have some classes together so he they told me about him"

"Besides for two weeks we've been at school Wes hasn't shut up about how great his big brother is." Said Tori

"And of most of the junior girls seem to agree with him" said Madison

"He sure is popular I'll give him that" said Z "but apparently he's got the brains too"

"Don't forget he's junior Captain of both the soccer and basketball teams" said Madison

"That and he's hot" said Tori with a mischievous grin on her face.

"And what does that have to do with me?" asked Taylor in a tone that clearly showed she was not interested.

"Nothing" said Tori shrugging and returning to her pancakes.

"How's Jen?" asked Madison "Dana told me about what happened with Wes"

"She's fine" said Taylor "I spoke to her last night, said something about stuff like that been happening a lot and for some reason he just gets to her, but she's fine she's over it I'm guessing Alex had something to do with that but as long as she's okay" she shrugged

"It does seem to happen a lot doesn't it?" asked Madison

"What does?" asked Z

"Wes and Jen" replied Madison

Both Z and Tori nodded

"Am I missing something here?" asked Taylor

"Uh … well" said Madison "the thing is"

"If their around each other for too long either one will end up saying something that hurts the other" Tori finished for her.

Taylor didn't say anything but continued to play with her fork.

"So does anyone have any plans for today?" asked Z

Tori and Madison turned to look at her while Taylor tried to keep herself form laughing out loud.

Z shrugged it off and said "Well"

"Was planning on going surfing" said Tori

"Mind if I tag along?" asked Madison "I want to try out my new camera"

"Sure" said Tori as she began to gather the empty plates and glasses (it was her turn to do the dishes)

"What about you?" Z asked Taylor

"Nothing much" said Taylor "I've gotta catch up on all the notes I missed these past two weeks"

"And you?" Tori asked Z

"Told Sky I'd go to the library with him" she replied

Just then the phone rang and Madison went to answer it

"Taylor it's for you" she called

"Thanks" said Taylor as she took the receiver from her.

"Hello"

"Hey Tay"

"Case, that you"

"Who else would it be?"

"Don't know, but I'm surprised you're awake it's only, what, 9:30, that too on a Saturday"

"Ha Ha very funny Tay, anyways mom says to remind you that you're coming over for dinner tonight"

"That's why you called"

"That, and I need to talk to you about something, didn't see you last night"

"You do realize that practically all of Barrington was there last night I doubt you would've seen me unless of course I had a sign board sticking out of my head"

Casey couldn't help but laugh.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?"

"It's not something I'd like to bring up over the phone, I was thinking we could get a cup of coffee, you could tell me all about London and what Ty's up to and then we talk"

"Would love to but I have a ton of catching up to do, so how about tomorrow or there's always tonight"

"Sure…uh I gotta go Tiger's throwing a fit"

"Seeya tonight then"

"Yeah, later"

* * *

Ok so I know this chapter was a little slow lame even, I'm not even sure why it's there myself, but it will help make future chapters a little less confusing.

For the record Casey is Casey from Jungle Fury.

for the benefit of my story his last name is Earheardt, he and Taylor are cousins.

Reminding everyone that this is an alternate universe.

Also I'm still taking character and relationship requests, it would really help.

I'm trying to (key word trying) to ensure that every ranger from every season makes at least an appearance, so let me know if you want your favourite rangers in the story as well, coz right now I can't guarantee that every ranger will be there even though that's what I want.

Also the offer extends to allies and villains as well.

Ok I think I should stop talking now

Let me know what you thought of the chapter.

Please review.


	8. Chapter 8

Hey there, thanks so much for all your reviews.

This Chapter sure took a long time and I really hope that it's worth it.

Just so you know I've made a few adjustments to the story on the whole so it might get a little confusing for those of you continuing with this chapter. Sorry about that.

Here goes…..

Chapter 8

Taylor was walking to school lost in her thoughts about what had happened the past couple of days and her talk with Casey, that guy could be such an idiot sometimes, completely blowing things out of proportion. She smiled to herself as details of his oh so important talk floated through her head first of he went on no-stop with questions on London and Tyler he hardly gave her a chance to answer him, then of course he got serious and down to business, the thought still made her laugh. Casey, Casey sometimes he acted like a real kid but when the time came she knew he could be counted on to step up to the plate and she was sure Sam Casey's younger brother would agree.

In truth all three of her brothers were quite similar yet so different Ty was the big brother and he took that role very seriously sometimes a bit too seriously but overall he was a cool brother to have, he had a passion for science something she never understood because he was not someone you could call a nerd or a geek, but they both loved to read, though they both had a very different taste in books ok so maybe it wasn't so different but there are some things you just can't argue on.

Case was all about speed, basketball and pizzas of course he also had a mild interest in martial arts and training was something they could always bond with, she was yet to be defeated.

Sam was your typical eleven yr old only things on his mind were videogames, soccer and bikes, but he was quite the partner when it came to ganging up on Casey.

How did she get stuck with such characters, its not that she didn't love her brothers she did sometimes being the only girl amongst three boys did kinda leave you out in the cold, it's a good thing she was such a tomboy otherwise she might have felt even more left out…..

"Sorry" she said she was so lost in thought that she walked right into somebody.

"Its fine" said a familiar voice; she looked up and was surprised

"Mi..ke, Mike Corbett" she said, taking in the familiar set of dark hair and light eyes.

"My, my if it isn't Taylor Earhardt" said Mike smiling as he readjusted his backpack, he was tall and well built a lot like your typical football jock except he was more of a soccer star, he was wearing a deep purple and black T-shirt with jeans.

"It's good to see you again" said Taylor as she hugged him

"And you" he said as they pulled away

"Leo told me you're back, I'm glad I finally got to run into you, though I didn't mean it in the literal sense"

"Yeah" she replied "but in this case its more like walked into, don't you think"

They both laughed.

"Still got your sense of humor I see, so have you been, I know you don't like to hear it but you look great"

"Thanks, I think" she replied "I've been great actually, what about you? and Leo? And before you say anything I know we're in the same year and have some classes together but LI haven't really had the chance to talk to him"

"As direct as always" said Leo Corbett as he came up behind his brother, Leo was a little shorter than his brother and had a slightly leaner build but they both had the same dark hair and light eyes, Leo was wearing black cargo's with a red T-shirt and a red and white sports jacket.

"Leo" exclaimed Taylor

"Well then Miss Earhardt how does it feel to be back?" he asked

"Great"

Leo nodded, "Of course it must, If recall correctly you've already gotten in to your first fight and you've been here what four days"

Taylor looked at him skeptically

"What?" asked Mike

"Nadira" was all Leo said

"That was you" said Mike and Taylor nodded slowly

"No wonder she was pissed, she got shown up by a freshman"

"At least we know that she's still the same old Taylor" said Leo

"Leo I moved, I didn't undergo character reorganization or something like that" she said making all three of them laugh.

"Hey Mike" they heard someone call and turned, they saw three boys walking towards them and Mike waved. Taylor recognized them as well.

"Great" she muttered under her breath "it's him"

"Huh sorry didn't get you" said Leo

"Oh …uh… I just said that I should be heading to class, don't wanna be late"

"Sure I'll come with" said Leo

"K, Guess I'll see you later Mike" said Taylor

"Later bro" said Leo as they turned to leave

"Later" said Mike "And Tay don't rush out on us k"

Taylor turned back and smiled "Don't worry I won't" she waved and briefly locked gazes with Eric who had now come to where Mike was standing along with his two friends, before dropping her gaze and looking in front again as she and Leo made their way to the science building"

"Dude" said Lucas as he and Mike grasped hands.

"Hey Lucas" said Mike "Ryan. Eric"

Ryan and Eric just nodded

"Was that who I thought it was?" asked Lucas gesturing to Taylor and Leo's retreating backs.

"Who Tay, or Leo?" asked Mike a little confused.

"The hot blonde of course, no offence to your bro though" replied Lucas.

"Better not let her hear you say that Luke or you probably won't be saying anything for a long time" said Mike.

"Huh what do you mean?" asked Ryan

"Hmmm how do I put this, lets just say Tay doesn't really go for sweet talkers" said Mike

"That's because she hasn't met me yet" said Lucas "I have yet to meet a girl who hasn't fallen for the ol Kendal charm" said Lucas dramatically.

Mike laughed a little as they started walking towards the building where they had their first class.

"I wouldn't count on it Taylor Earhardt is one girl you don't want to mess with"

"You seem to know a lot about her" Ryan put in, a little surprised Mike was a lot like Eric one way of putting it would be that work came before all else chasing girls now that was Lucas's forte.

"Not really" said Mike "We used to go to the same junior high and she and Leo are pretty good friends"

"So then you don't know her that well" said Lucas

"We're not best buds but we're friends" said Mike "Why so interested?"

"Just want to know what the new girl in school is like, right" said Lucas smiling slyly nudging Eric who gave him a sour look.

"Ok, what's going on?" asked Mike

"Nothing" said Eric as he and Mike took the lead while Lucas and Ryan hung back a little smiling at each other.

"Oh and Luke" said Mike as turned back to look at Lucas "If you're planning on trying something with Tay, I'd warn against it she's not like most girls and doesn't take kindly to jocks especially arrogant ones just ask Alex"

"Arrogant me, how could you?" said Lucas faking a shocked and hurt look

Eric and Ryan just rolled their eyes.

"Hold on" said Lucas "when you say Alex do you mean the senior, captain of our soccer team Alex"

"That's the one" said Mike

"What happened?" asked Ryan

Eric didn't say anything but to his surprise he found himself listening intently

"Well it's sorta like this…."

He proceeded to recount the details of what happened three years ago.

"Wow" said Ryan "the girl's got guts I'll give her that"

"Tell me about it, she gave Alex a lesson he'll never forget and back then Alex was ten times the jerk he is now" said Mike

"And all that on her first day" said Ryan

Mike nodded "first days just don't seem to go for her"

"What do you mean?" asked Lucas

"Did you know that she was the one who took on Nadira" said Mike as they approached their classroom.

"That was her" said Ryan impressed, Mike nodded

Lucas put his arm around Eric's neck "Well, well what do you know, the newbie took on your girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend" said Eric through gritted teeth as he shoved Lucas off him

"Dude" said Mike "We know that, the whole school probably does, but you seriously have got to drop a clue on Nadira"

"He's right" said Ryan

"You try it sometime" said Eric "that girl couldn't get a clue about anything if it danced in front of her wearing whatever new brand she's been raving about"

He waved his hands exasperatedly as he walked into class, the other three followed him trying their best not to laugh out loud.

I really hope you liked it.

It's not dynamite but I promise it'll get a lot more interesting with a lot more Taylor/ Eric coming up in future chapters.

And for those of you who asked for it I hope you liked the minor details about her brothers or should I say brother and cousins. Oh and Sam is Sam from SPD. If you want any more details let me know.

Sorry it took so long, but please Review even if you didn't like it.


	9. Chapter 9

Hi, there I guess I owe all my readers a huge apology and I really am sorry this took so long it's just that there's been so much going on what with exams, hols and my laptop crashing as well as my research for this idea I got for a new fic.

I'm really sorry for this chapter taking so long and for the fact that it's not exactly what everyone wants but for the benefit of the story I need to take things slow, especially with all the characters I'm playing with.

Here's chapter 9, I really hope you like it.

Chapter 9

(This is basically what happens with Taylor and Leo after they leave)

"So what was that all about?" asked Leo a little confused

"What do you mean?" said Taylor masking her awkwardness with the situation perfectly.

"Oh it's nothing" said Leo lightly "It's just that I kind of got the feeling that you were in a hurry to get out of there"

"And what makes you say that" asked Taylor still maintaining her countenance.

"Come on Tay" said Leo getting frustrated "even you have to admit that excuse was pretty lame."

"I have no idea what you're talking about" said Taylor trying not to laugh "I don't see anything wrong in wanting to be on time for class"

"Yeah right" countered Leo "We both know there's plenty of time for class and frankly I don't see why you wanted to hightail it out of there in the first place"

Taylor laughed a little at her friend's frustration.

"Ok, ok I'll give" she said still laughing a little.

"Well" pushed Leo

"Let's just say there's certain company I'd rather avoid right now"

"Huh, do you mean the guys" said Leo thinking back to his brother's friends

"Why would you want to avoid them? Hold on how do you even know them in the first place?"

"Hey Leo"

Taylor's answer was interrupted when a girl with dark blonde hair tied in a low ponytail that hung over one of her shoulders wearing a black skirt with a yellow T-shirt and black pumps walked up to them.

"Hey Lil" said Leo turning to face the girl

"Tay this is Lily Chilman, Lil this is…"

"Taylor Earhardt" Lily finished for him

"It's nice to meet you" she said extending her hand.

"You too" said Taylor shaking her hand "have we met?" she asked not sure whether she'd seen this girl in one of her classes or not.

"We haven't actually" said Lily "But Casey's told me a lot about you"

"He has" said Taylor uncertainly

Lily nodded. "So which class do you guys have?" she asked cheerfully

"I have History" said Leo groaning slightly.

"And I have biology" said Taylor

"Me too" said Lily "Isn't Dr. Oliver a great teacher"

"I wouldn't know this is my first bio class" said Taylor.

"You're going to have some fun in his class" said Leo as the three of them made their way up the stairs to their respective classrooms.

"What makes you say that?" asked Taylor

"Well Dr.O is this real sci-fi freak in a way, he's totally into comic books, superheroes and that sort of stuff" said Leo

"And he always finds ways to link it to what we're doing in class and even it doesn't make a lot of sense most of the time it sure makes for a lot of laughs" put in Lily

"So his class isn't as boring as bio should be" said Leo

"Ever think that he's probably doing that so people actually pay attention and don't fall asleep in his class" said Taylor

"Gee I never thought of that" said Leo "anyways I gotta run, see you girls later"

He took off down the corridor leaving the girls to find their way to their class.

I know this was kind of short but t had to be done like I said before for this story to work I have to take it slow. But I'll try my best to get the other chapters done as soon as possible.

Hope you liked it.

Please Review.


	10. Chapter 10

Here's the next chapter

Sorry it took so long

Hope you like it.

Chapter 10

Nadira Rein was furious the news had got out that someone actually stood up to her and got away with it, a freshman no less and that had given the class clowns a chance to take a shot at her. No matter, she had put them in their place and everything went back to normal almost like it never happened. Almost. But that still didn't excuse the fact that it did happen, she would have to do something about that newbie freshman.

"Hey guys" said a girl with shoulder length black hair, wearing a black skirt and a tight fitting white shirt with a sliver snake printed on it as she approached Nadira and Toxica in the parking lot of the academy.

"Oh, hi Vypra" said Toxica who turned away from Nadira who was leaning against her pink convertible with a far away expression on her face to greet the new comer.

"What's wrong with her?" Vypra asked gesturing to Nadira.

"Probably thinking about that freshman again" said Toxica with a sigh

"Oh come now Nadira are you really going to let that insignificant little cockroach get to you"

"Vy's right Nadira, she's not important you have more important things to be concerned about, besides you probably won't have to deal with that pest ever again"

"Your right girls, the concert is more important, and besides around here we have a way of getting rid of pests when they get too bothersome." said Nadira an evil smile etching her face.

"Well your back to your old self" said Vypra as the three of them left the parking lot

"Not that we expected any less" put in Toxica.

"Well girls…" Nadira began but was interrupted by the ringing of her self phone.

She removed a flip phone from her bag that was pimped with pink rhinestones and looked at the caller ID.

"It's Morgana" she said before answering it.

"Hi sis" she said as she moved away from her friends to talk to her sister.

"Has she decided what she's going to do for the concert, auditions are next week" asked Vypra

Toxica looked at her friend who was standing a few feet away engrossed in a conversation with her older sister"

"Last time she talked about, she said something about it having to top last years or something"

"What's the point, she always manages to steal the show somehow"

"True, but she said something about this tear it being more than just a show"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Don't know, but whatever it is she'll tell us sooner or later"

"That's not like her, she usually plans these things months before"

Vypra nodded as Nadira returned smiling.

"Let's go girls" she said taking the lead as they went to their first class.

"You seem happy" said Toxica

"Well my sister just gave me some very good news"

"It must have been really good" said Vypra

"It was, let's go shopping after practice okay"

"Uh… yeah sure"

They walked on ahead with an air of superiority and everyone else moved out of their way.

* * *

Another short one I know but please review and let me know what you think.

I'm still taking any requests you might have.


	11. Chapter 11

Ok, so here goes

Chapter 11

It was just after lunch and Taylor was sitting under a huge oak tree on campus with Leo, around them were several other students sitting in groups or alone with either books or laptops. Taylor sighed as she turned the pages of the notes she had got from Sky for her aviation class, she turned to look at her companion who was lazing around, leaning against the tree with his hands behind his head and eyes closed.

They had a free period after lunch, Alyssa had to go to the library to return some books, Jen had a class and she wasn't sure where exactly the others were, but they all had something or the other to do or somewhere to be and somehow she'd found herself sitting on the lawn with Leo, who at the moment looked like he didn't have a care in the world.

"Don't you have anything to do?" she asked

"No not really" he said his eyes still closed "Unlike some people I don't have to catch up on two weeks worth of school work" he smirked slightly and looked at her with one eye still closed.

She was sitting a little away from him, her blonde hair was tied in a low ponytail that fell behind her, she was wearing a yellow shirt and denim capris with black sneakers that had yellow markings on them. In her hand was a stack of photocopied notes, her bag lay open at her sides several books spilling out.

"Real funny Corbett" she said as she put down her notes, she stretched her arms in front of her, sat up a little straighter and took a look around, she recognized some of her classmates amongst those sitting outside.

"There sure are a lot of people out here today" she said

Leo leaned forward and a little straighter as well

"Well yeah, free periods don't come along often, and when they do everyone likes to come out here for a while, after a whole morning of being cooped up in stuffy classrooms who wouldn't. I bet most of our class is out here and there are of course the seniors who generally have a free class at this time"

They were supposed to be in math class right now but for some reason it was canceled.

Taylor continued to look around and noticed someone heading in their direction, he was wearing jeans with a plain black T-shirt and a baseball cap. As he got closer she could hear some of the others call out to him

"Hey Merrick"

"Merrick"

Taylor smiled to herself at the expression on his face at being addressed, he however did not return the greetings but moved ahead with a frustrated look on his face.

"Nice to see you again Zen" said Taylor as he passed by where the two of them were sitting.

He stopped in his tracks and turned towards her

Leo shrank back a little at the fierce look on his face but Taylor smiled at him and waved.

"Hi"

Zen's expression softened and turned into a mixture of confusion and acknowledgement

"Uh… hi" he said "you're the girl from the party right"

"The name's Taylor, Taylor Earhardt"

He nodded in acknowledgement and left

"Well that was pleasant" she said in a sarcastic tone.

"Considering who you were talking to it was" said Leo

"C'mon he can't be that bad"

"Well he kinda likes to keep to himself so one really knows, most of the time people mistake him for Merrick which puts him in a foul mood and no one really knows much about him except of course that's he's an ace fencer"

"I suppose not having an identity of your own could make anyone's blood boil"

"True but who can blame 'em I mean they're identical, you can hardly make out one from the other. Speaking of which how did you know it was him?"

"Uh… well I met Merrick, actually he's my partner for this mixed aviation class thing and I, well I wouldn't call it a meeting exactly but I met Zen at the party and I kinda noticed the difference in the way they conduct themselves, if you look close enough it's actually quit easy to tell them apart"

"Sorry I forgot who I was talking to for a moment"

"What's that's supposed to mean?"

"C'mon who else can tell the difference between two people who look exactly the same from the way the walk or whatever it is after a couple of brief meetings, and it's not just them you do things like that all the time you really have a knack for reading people or whatever it's called"

"Don't be silly, it was just an observation, I'm sure lots of people noticed…."

"And yet they fail to address him correctly"

"Those people don't necessarily have to be here"

Leo sighed as he remembered just how hard it was to win an argument with Taylor. He looked around and noticed two girls standing near the entrance to one of the buildings and pointed them out two Taylor.

Looking in the direction Leo pointed out Taylor saw two girls of the same height standing there, what struck her about them was that their faces were identical but one of them had long raven hair that was tied in a high ponytail, she was wearing slim brown pants and a green top that had an oriental design on it with brown boots. She carried a backpack over one shoulder and carried several books in her other hand. The other had blonde hair that fell over her shoulders in waves and curls, she was wearing a pink top with a black skirt and a black leather jacket with black boots and sunglasses that she wore on a head. She carried a handbag over one shoulder and held a folder in one hand.

"Those are the Primvare twins, their seniors" said Leo "the brunette's Camille and the blonde is Leelee, so tell me what's so different about those two?"

"Other than the obvious" said Taylor smirking

"C'mon Tay humor me" pleaded Leo

"Leo I haven't even met either one of them"

"Just give it a shot "

"Fine"

Taylor looked over at the two of them and observed them for a moment.

"Okay" she said "Camille, is physically superior by which I mean she's the more athletic one and is probably into martial arts and stuff, Leelee on the other hand uses a lot of gestures when speaking my guess is she's probably into acting or is some kind of performer. What?" she exclaimed at the smug look Leo was giving her.

"Camille is the captain of the girls martial arts team and Leelee is co-head of the drama club but she's also a great singer and before you say anything remember you haven't met either one before you said it yourself"

He continued to look at her with the same smug look.

"That doesn't prove anything, just look at them anyone can tell them apart"

"Hmmmm" Leo's expression went from smug to pensive, he tapped his finger against his chin.

"Alright maybe the Primvare's were a little easy, but how about those two"

She followed his gaze and saw two twin sisters sitting on the lawn laughing. From what she could see they both had the same build and same shade of blonde hair cut in similar styles till their shoulders. They wore jeans, one wore a grey half-sleeve sweater and the other a white T-shirt with a logo she couldn't see very clearly. They too were identical twins.

"That's Ally and Vella Sammuels, their juniors"

Taylor sighed, "You think this is some kind of game don't you?"

"A game, no not really just trying to prove a point"

"And that would be"

"You'll see" he said with a grin on his face.

Taylor turned towards the twins just as the bell went

"Saved by the bell" she said as she gathered her stuff and put in her bag.

"C'mon" she said "we have to get to the gym"

"But, but…."

"You want to be late that's fine, I'm going" and with that she made her way to the gym for their next class. Leo stood up and grabbed his bag, he looked over at the twins once more and said "This is so not fair" then he raced after Taylor.

* * *

I'm not really sure why this chapter's here but I hope you liked it any way and even if you didn't please review and let me know.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Wesley Myers burst through the doors of the gym panting. He was dressed in black tracks with a red stripe along the side and a red T-shirt that had BARRIGTON ACADEMY printed at the back in black the same as all the other freshmen who were already gathered at one end of the large room.

"Nice of you to join us Mr. Myers" said a woman of average height with long dark hair and Asian features. She was wearing yellow slacks with a matching wrap shirt with a white sash belt.

"I'm very sorry Ms. Kwan" said Wes who was still panting "Mr. Mao" he said acknowledging his other teacher, he a tall balding man who also had Asian features his ensemble was quite similar to Ms. Kwan's except his was of a vermillion hue.

"I ended up in the wrong room by accident"

"This is probably the only school where that excuse would work" said Cole

He was standing near the wall along with Carter, Taylor, Leo, Z, Jen and Kelsey.

"True" said Carter "How many schools do we know that have three gyms?"

"That aside" said Leo "how did he end up in the wrong room when he was right behind us when we left the locker room?"

They all laughed, earning themselves a look from Mr. Mao

"That's alright Mr. Myers" said Ms. Kwan in a calm voice, we were just about to begin I was going to ask for a couple of volunteers to give us a demonstration before we begin why don't you do the honors" she gestured to the mats that had been placed on the floor.

"Sure" said Wes as he took off his shoes and placed them in the corner along with those of the rest of the class before taking his place at one end of the mat.

He sighed in relief at his good luck, he was really lucky that today's gym class was self defence if any other of his gym teachers were here he'd definitely be finding himself in detention after school and besides this wasn't so bad he wasn't great at martial arts but he was pretty good and getting better after all he had some of the best teachers in the country.

"Alright you'll need a partner" said Mr. Mao he took the register from a short boy with dark hair who was standing behind the teachers. Mr. Mao ran his finger down a list of names "Ok how about......"

* * *

On the other side of the gym the juniors were having a three on three basketball game while the others sat around and watched. They were all wearing sleeveless black shirts with red and black shorts. There were no girls. Their coach was a tall well built man with dark hair and eyes. He was wearing black tracks with a white stripe down the side and a loose red T-shirt with a whistle around his neck.

"Hey Eric isn't that your brother" said Jack Landors who had turned away from the game and was watching the juniors.

Eric Myers walked up to him followed closely by Lucas and Ryan; they all turned in the direction that Jack had pointed out.

"Looks like he was late again" said Ryan

"He'll never learn" muttered Eric

They watched as Mr. Mao called out his opponent, it was girl.

"Well, well, well look who it is?" said Lucas as the girl made her way to the mat

"Poor Wes" said Mike who had come up behind them

All four boys turned to look at him with confused expressions.

"What do you mean?" asked Jack

"Corbett"

Mike turned to see the coach calling him

"You'll see" he said before leaving to take his place on the court.

* * *

"So how do you think this is gonna work out?" asked Cole

"Lets just say Wes well he's how do I put this?" said Jen thoughtfuly

"Gonna get his butt handed to him" finished Kelsey

"Exactly" said Jen with an evilish grin on her face.

"You can't be serious" said Carter "I mean Wes is pretty good"

"I'm with the girls on this one" said Casey who had walked up to them

* * *

Taylor took a deep breath as she faced Wes on the mat, how did she end up here, this was certainly something she didn't want to happen.

"Take your stances" said Ms. Kwan

Taylor studied Wes as he eased himself into his stance it was a classic attack stance with one foot in front of the other spaced carefully and arms held high again one in front of the other with fists clenched. She figured that he was good but not that good and thought that she had better go easy on him after all this was only gym class.

She relaxed her body then slowly moved her right leg in a circular motion and brought it behind her left leg without much distance maintaining her T-stance, her hands closed into fists but were not clenched completely, she crossed her hands in front of her before bringing them to rest at either side.

Ms. Kwan smiled and Mr. Mao seemed a little taken aback neither had seen this technique being used.

"Don't worry Tay" said Wes smirking "I'll go easy on you"

Alright thought Taylor change of plans he's going down.

"Alright begin" said Mr. Mao

Wes lunged forward swinging his fist. Taylor easily side stepped him and caught his outstretched arm and using his own strength against him flipped him onto the mat.

Everyone was silent no one expected it to be over so soon.

Then all the girls started clapping at once making such a noise that it attracted attention from the juniors as well.

* * *

"Dude" said Lucas putting his hand on Eric's shoulder "you're bro just got his butt kicked by a girl"

"In record time as well" said Ryan

"Man that girl is good" said Jack

Eric turned back to look at Mike who was standing on the court with the basketball in his hands everyone had stopped what they were doing to see what the commotion was about.

Mike was looking at Taylor with a smile on his face that was so typically Taylor. He noticed Eric looking over at him and turned then shrugged and went back to dribbling the ball.

"Alright boys" called coach Scott "eyes back on the game" he blew his whistle signaling that they should start playing.

* * *

Cole and Carter stood with their eyes wide and mouths hanging open. Leo, Casey, Kelsey and Jen were clapping enthusiastically Z looked impressed as she applauded along with the rest.

"Now do you get it?" asked Casey

The boys nodded still unable to say a word.

* * *

Taylor offered Wes a hand which he took and she helped him up to his feet.

"You okay?"

"Yeah fine" said Wes "where did you learn to fight like that?"

"I'd like to know as well" said Miss Kwan "that's quite a unique style you have"

"Well actually" said Taylor softly "I studied a couple of different styles and then just altered them here and there to suit me"

"And create your own unique style, I must say that is impressive" said Mr. Mao

"Not really, people do it all the time no one really uses the techniques they've been taught the same way, it just wouldn't work"

Miss Kwan and Mr. Mao smiled.

"Alright then" said Mr. Mao "Could you give us another demonstration? I'm sure the rest of the class would learn a thing or two"

"Sure I guess"

"Lets see how you fare against a stronger opponent shall we?" said Miss Kwan

Taylor nodded.

"Thank you Wes" said Miss Kwan

Wes nodded and went and stood near Cole and Carter nether of the boys said a word.

"Theo" Miss Kwan called to the boy who was holding the register

Theo passed the register to Lily and took his place on the mat.

"Alright, take your positions" said Miss Kwan

Theo eased himself into his fighting stance, Taylor could tell that he was definitely stronger than Wes and that he had been training for years.

* * *

"Hey Case" said Leo "Tay has gotten better at this right?"

"I don't know, why?"

"Dude, kicking Wes's ass is one thing but Theo's at a whole new level"

"Hey, I right here you know" said Wes

"He's right though" said Cole "She did wipe the floor with you"

"Ok fine I'll admit she did beat me but there is no way she's gonna get Theo, he's the best in the year"

"Must you be so pessimistic" said Jen

"I dunno Jen" said Kelsey "Maybe the guys are right on this one, I mean I've seen Tay fight and I know she's good but I'm not sure if she's good enough to beat Theo"

"Yeah Jen" said Casey "I would love for Tay to win and all but Theo's real good"

"Guess we'll just have to wait and see" said Jen looking over at Taylor and Theo facing each other on the sparring mat. Her face had a determined look but still showed traces of worry.

Please review.


	13. Chapter 13

_Chapter 13_

Taylor stood across the mat from Theo she could tell that he was a lot stronger and more experienced that Wes, from his stance she gathered that he had studied kung fu. She eased herself into her stance it was similar to the one she used earlier except this time she kept her arms raised in front of her.

Lucas turned from where he was standing and cast a glance over at the freshmen, as he had expected Wes was somewhere at the back of the crowd but to his surprise Taylor was still on the mat facing another opponent who he was sure he had seen somewhere.

"Hey Eric" he said nudging him

"What?" asked Eric as he watched Mike dribble past his defenders with ease and finish with a beautiful three point shot.

"Who's the little guy?" he gestured to where Taylor and Theo were facing each other on the mat.

Both Eric and Ryan turned to see who he was talking about.

"Isn't that kid on the martial arts team?" asked Ryan

Eric nodded he was a little surprised to see the two of them facing each other, Theo rarely ever got a chance to match up against his class mates after the initial classes the teachers realized that he was too far ahead and only a handful of students could keep up with him which earned him a spot on the martial arts team one of the few teams that rarely took on freshmen.

Eric had been asked to join the team and he did as a non exclusive member because of his other activities, he ha seen Theo in action he was very good. But what surprised him even more was that Taylor had changed her stance maybe not all that much but it was different it was something not many people did.

"That's Theo Martin, he's the best martial artist in his year, he can even give a couple of seniors a run for their money"

"This should be interesting" said Lucas

"Aston, Bradley, Kendal, Landors, Mitchell, Myers you're up"

"Oh man we're going to miss it" groaned Lucas

"C'mon" said Ryan puling him along.

"Did she just change her stance?" asked Wes

"Guess she's taking Theo seriously" said Casey

"What are you talking about?" asked Carter

"She changes her stance after reading her opponent" said Casey

"I hope she's got something up her sleeve or we may actually see Taylor Earhardt loose in a fight" said Kelsey

Taylor was in a bit of a dilemma, she didn't want to draw too much attention to her self but at the same time she didn't want to loose.

"Begin" she heard Miss Kwan call out.

Both she and Theo stared at each other, both waiting for the other to begin a few moments passed before Theo made the first move attempting an attack with his fist Taylor blocked it perfectly and countered with an attack of her own. Theo blocked her attack with ease and they both took a step back. The same thing happened a few more times till Theo got a little impatient and attempted a swing kick at her feet trying to get her off balance, Taylor caught on to him and was forced to do a backward flip to avoid it, she landed on her feet and took her stance again earning her a few awes from the rest of the class. She was about to counter when Miss Kwan blew her whistle.

"Alright you two, that's enough for now" she said "It would seem that this match could take a while and we still have a class to take so for now we'll call it a draw"

"Thank you" said Mr. Mao as Both Taylor and Theo nodded and returned to their places.

The class applauded as Taylor made her way to the back of the class. Theo stared after her she took him completely by surprise he came from a family of expert martial artists leaving out his twin brother his was a different story altogether and had faced many opponents his best friend Lily who standing right beside him was pretty good as well but he had never faced an opponent like Taylor before in fact he had never seen anyone fight like she did and he had watched some of the greatest fighters in the world, it's not that her technique was superior to theirs but completely different it follow any particular pattern it was uh….Unique.

"She's good isn't she?" asked Lily

Theo only nodded something was still bothering him he didn't know why but he felt that she was holding back during the fight.

"Awesome Tay"

"Way to go cuz"

"Still haven't lost it"

Jen, Casey and Kelsey gathered around her the moment she got back most of the class were turning to glance back at her every now and then she was starting to feel really uncomfortable and was glad when Miss Kwan called them all to order and class began.

As the bell rang signaling the end of class everyone headed of the showers. Outside the boy's locker room Carter, Cole and Wes ran into Eric, Lucas and Ryan.

"Hey guys" said Carter

Eric nodded and Ryan raised his hand in greeting Lucas however made his way over to Wes and put his arm around his neck in a mock hold.

"Well well well if it isn't the little prince who got his butt kicked by a girl"

At first Wes protested and tried to get loose but when he heard what Lucas said he stopped and his face turned red the last people on earth he had wanted to witness that was his brother and his two best friends Lucas would never let him live this down.

"Don't sweat it Wes" said Ryan feeling a little sorry for him

"According to Mike she's a lot tougher than she looks"

"Gee thanks" murmured Wes as Lucas let him go

Lucas and Ryan headed into their l0ocker room but Eric held back

"Appena ammettalo ed appenda là in poco bro" he said before following his friends.

"Uh…what did he say?" asked a confused Cole

"Nothing important" said Wes with the hint of a smile on his face.

Sorry if my Italians a mess. Anyways I hoped you liked it please review.

Still taking requests.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Taylor was walking around the grounds, school was just over and everyone was running about all heading to their after school clubs and other activities. So far she had only joined the school journalism club that ran the school paper since she was still a freshman and all the spots were filled she was given free reign so she didn't have much to do however Miss Kwan did ask her to consider joining the martial arts team but she wasn't sure yet besides there were others things she was good at she just wasn't sure if she wanted to stand out yet again for once she just wanted to be a regular student who was only noticed by her friends but then again if she really wanted that she could have just stayed in London, she was technically a nobody there.

She sighed in frustration she just didn't know what to do. She turned and readjusted her backpack and headed down towards the soccer fields.

Barrington Academy had three soccer fields, the main stadium where all official games were played and was sometimes which was also used by the boys team for practice, to its left was the field where the girl's team practiced and ext to that was the field which was open to the rest of the school.

Practice was already in full swing she could make out the boy's team running across the field probably doing drills, the cheerleaders were practicing their routines in a corner of the field, the girl's field was empty. As she got closer she could make out some of the players she saw Merrick talking to a fair sandy haired boy the same height as him they were both wearing black shorts, red jerseys with black stripes on the sides and gold bands on the sleeves with black and red soccer boots just like everyone else, she figured that it was the school practice uniform. She saw Alex talking to coach Scotts. As she reached the field she saw the freshmen sitting at the side with a huge basket full of soccer balls she couldn't help but laugh a little when she saw Leo sitting there with Wes, Carter, Nick, Sky and Cole. She looked around and saw Alyssa sitting in the stands with her laptop. She walked over and sat down next to her.

"Hey"

"Oh hi" she said looking up

"So what are you working on?"

"Uh… well…"

Taylor glanced over at the screen and surprisingly found it blank, she laughed slightly while Alyssa blushed.

"So what's the hold up?" she asked while trying to suppress her laughter.

"Uh… well they asked me to cover the soccer team and…"

"Lyssa you don't know the first thing about soccer"

"I know but I just couldn't say no"

Taylor turned to look at the field her head was resting on the back of her and while her elbow was popped up n her thigh. She looked over at the freshmen running laps unlike the rest of the team they were wearing plain white shirts instead of the usual uniform she picked out Leo who was at the front of the pack along with Sky, Carter and Nick weren't far behind. Her eyes settled on Wes and Cole particularly on Cole it looked like he was wearing a red headband. A smile crept on to her face as she glanced back at Alyssa.

"So what're you gonna do?" she asked

"Well that kinda why I asked you to come, see Devin's been assigned to help me he's my photographer" she gestured to a boy who was standing on the edge of the field taking pictures with his camera. He was wearing dark brown pants with a long printed green short from where she was sitting she could make out that he had dark blond hair, he had a bag slung across his shoulder.

"But he's not that into soccer so….."

"You need all the help you can get"

"Sort of yeah" she said looking over at Taylor pleadingly

"Alright" said Taylor recognizing the look in her friend's eyes.

"So when does the tournament start?" she asked turning her attention back to the field where the team were playing a practice game.

Alyssa shuffled through some of her papers till she found what she was looking for

"Here it is, the tournament starts this Saturday, it's a round robin tournament and the two teams with the highest number of points at the end play the final from which the winner moves on to the regionals. We play Regimont Academy from Angel Grove in the opening game."

"So what exactly is it that you have to do?"

"Basically watch every game a report it, but since it's such a big deal here the paper wants and overview of how the team's preparing for the game and interviews with some of the key players before the tournament and depending on performance"

"Alright then in terms of practice this" she gestured to the field "is pretty basic stuff so you're gonna have to talk to the coach about how the team's doing and as far as the interviews go do you know who these key players are?

"Yeah he gave me a list, here" she handed her a list of names

Captain- Alex Bryant

Vice-Captain- Kite Sanders

Merrick Baliton

Conner McKnight

Mike Corbett

Eric Myers

Will Aston

"Ok then" said Taylor after glancing at the list "you already know Alex and Mike so you can start with them and I talk to Merrick for you and you can move on from there"

"First of yes I know Mike and Alex but only as Leo's brother and Jen's boyfriend I'm not you I can't exactly talk to them the way you do other than the fact that I wouldn't know where to start and second how do you know Merrick and why am I hearing this now?"

"He's a teacher's assistant in my aviation class and is my partner for this term, that aside are you feeling alright or did I miss something while I was gone cause the Alyssa I know has a lot more confidence especially when in came to writing an article"

"I'm fine, just nervous, freshmen never get to cover important stuff, I lucked out because the guy who was supposed to it is down with the measles and everyone else already had their assignments and Shayla really liked the article I sent in with my application "

"And…"

"And I may have forgotten to mention that I know nothing about soccer"

"I'm not even going to ask why?"

"Ok everything else aside let's focus on the article please"

"Sure what do you have so far?"

They went on talking for about half an hour Alyssa told her about the research she had done on the team and its individual players and Taylor explained certain soccer terms to her and outline the kind of questions she should ask in her interviews.

Alyssa glanced at her watch

"I think I'm gonna give the article a rest for now thanks for the help" said Alyssa as the both stood and headed out of the stands.

"No problem"

"Tay, Lyssa" they heard Jen call out and looked up to see Jen, Tori, Lily and Dana standing there waiting for them , they were all wearing their red and black cheerleading uniforms black skirts with red pleats and red sleeveless tops lined with black a small gold D on the left with black and red sneakers.

"Hi" said Alyssa as they came up to them

"What are you guys doing here?" asked Taylor

"Practice got done early" said Jen "apparently her royal highness has a pressing engagement" she pointed over her shoulder to where Nadira was talking to girl with curly blonde hair both wearing the same uniforms as the others.

"So we were planning on going out for some pizza" said Tori "wanna come?"

"Pizza sounds good" said Taylor

"Sure" said Alyssa

"K then we'll meet you guys back here in five" said lily as they headed off to the locker rooms to change

'Hey Alyssa"

"Oh hi Devin" said Alyssa

"Tay this is Devin Del Valle, Devin this is Taylor"

"Hi" said Devin holding out his hand "it's nice to meet you"

"Hi" said Taylor shaking his hand

"So did you get any good shots?" asked Alyssa

"The usual" he replied "not surprising thought practices are usually really dull but I did get the head shots you wanted, I'll mail them to you tonight you choose the ones' you want."

"Do you have any group shots of the freshmen?" asked Taylor

"Uh… yeah but…"

"Could you mail those to her as well?"

"Sure but like I was saying, why?"

Alyssa turned to her friend a confused look on her face

"Yeah why?"

"Look out" said Taylor pushing Devin back as a soccer ball came flying out of nowhere and would have most certainly crashed into Devin had he not moved.

"Are you alright?" asked Alyssa

"Yeah" said Devin "Thanks" he addressed Taylor

"No problem"

"Well then I…uh…I should go…uh need to uh… get these to the uh… lab" he said holding up his camera.

"K see you around"

"Uh…yeah…sure"

With that he took off but for some unknown reason he was blushing

"You sure he's okay" asked Taylor as she walked to where the ball had fallen and put her foot on it

"He's fine probably just a little shaken"

Taylor swiftly mover her infoot under the ball before giving her friend a confused look

Alyssa shrugged "He may not be the most confident guy around but he's a great photographer at least that's what Shayla told me that and he gets a little nervous around these guys" she pointed with her thumb to the field where the guys running across the field.

"Uh Tay what are you doing?"

Taylor was balancing the ball on her right foot which was slightly raised while her hands were jammed into the pockets of her dark blue jeans.

Taylor didn't answer instead she was looking straight at the ball then flipped it with her foot it rose a little before flopping down on the ground beside her

"Looks like I'm a little rusty" she murmured.

"Little kids shouldn't be wandering around on the big boys' playground"

They both turned to see who had spoken and Taylor couldn't help but scowl when she saw who it was. Standing there was Wes's brother uh… Eric, the blond guy standing to his right was Dana's brother Ryan and the other guy, the one with the spiky hair she was sure Wes had mentioned him but she couldn't get his name.

"You should leave the soccer tricks to people who can actually do them" said Eric

Taylor glared at him her fists clenched at her side

"Just who do you think you are?" anger apparent in her voice

Alyssa was starting to get a little sacred you could never tell what was going to happen next when Taylor got like this. Lucas was surprised, he had seen Taylor in action but usually when Eric talked like that everyone else ran for cover hell even a few seniors were scared of him and even those who weren't never stood up to him at least not after what happened to first couple of guys that tried to bully him freshmen year and as far as girls were concerned if they weren't throwing themselves at him and listening to his every word with a dreamy expression on their faces while not really hearing anything at all they were shuffling past him with their heads down with their faces looking either flushed or scared but this well he was at a loss for words.

Ryan wasn't sure what was going on Eric was having a bad day was snapping at everyone who annoyed him and like everyone else he had expected Taylor to apologize and walk away but…he looked over at Eric who was now glaring at Taylor.

"Hey guys get over here you're up" they heard Alex call. Lucas and Ryan turned to walk away Eric followed not before one more glance at Taylor.

"C'mon Tay lets go" said Alyssa as she turned to walk

"Tay?"

"You should leave the soccer tricks to people who can actually do them" said Taylor in a mocking voice her arms folded against her chest her face still screwed up in anger almost immediately she dropped her hands to her side planted her left foot in the ground and bending raised her right leg behind her and launched a powerful kick at the ball in front of her she then turned on her heel and huffed past Alyssa.

Alyssa's hands flew to her mouth when she saw the ball fly straight at Eric's head but to her amazement as well as that of most of the guys on the field including the coach at the last second the ball turned and flew straight into the corner of the net.

She could see a number of shocked faces and even heard someone say "Nice shot"

There was also some applause from the freshmen. Many of them were turning to see where that shot had come from and before they misunderstood anything she high tailed it out of there.

"Alright guys" Alex called his team together "show's over everyone back to practice"

He looked over at Ryan, Eric and Lucas but more specifically at Eric. That kid was a real mystery to him. He knew that he was stubborn, bad tempered and a real hard ass some people would even call him cold but in spite of that he was popular. That aside you couldn't deny that he was brilliant and talented. But it didn't matter who he was or how hard assed and stubborn he could be if wanted to start a war with Taylor Earhardt he was going to learn the hard way that not everyone would let him have his way then again he might be one of the very few people who could actually challenge her.

Then again he didn't all that much about either of them, whatever went down between them was none of his business as long as it didn't affect Eric's playing. He sure wouldn't want to loose him he was an exceptionally talented player and he and Ryan were a terrific duo.

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see" he said to himself as he watched them practice.

Sorry about the delay

Hope you liked it

Please review.


	15. Chapter 15

Sorry for the long wait.

Chapter 15

Half an hour later Taylor, Lily, Dana and Tori were sitting in a booth at what was at least to Taylor a new pizzeria in town called 'Jungle Karma Pizza' Jen had bailed on them when she got a call from Alex.

"Interesting decor" said Taylor looking around

To her surprise Lily blushed a little.

"Hi there kids" said a man of average height with light brown hair and light eyes he was wearing a long white shirt with an apron over zebra print pants and a printed bandana something about his roughish appearance reminded her of Merrick it was almost hmmmm wolf-like.

"Hey R.J" said Tori and Dana

"You must be Taylor; it's nice to finally meet you I've heard a lot about you"

Taylor wasn't exactly sure how to respond but in the end asked "You have?"

Lily giggled a little before saying

"Tay I'd like you to meet my uncle R.J"

"Hi" said Taylor before glaring at Lily who raised her hands in front of her

"Don't look at me it was Casey"

"Casey?"

"Yeah he works here part time and like I said he was really excited that you were coming back"

"We are talking abut the same Casey right?? My ever so eager cousin who shrinks away from event the slightest mention of work"

"People can surprise you sometimes" said R.J "He may be a little indecisive and unsure of himself and he definitely has a lot to learn but he does put in the effort I suppose all tigers start of that way" he added nonchalantly.

Taylor looked at him skeptically.

"And from what's he said about you strong, determined, protective, unpredictable, knowledgeable, good observation and leadership skills and an unrivaled passion for flying I'd say you have the spirit of the eagle."

Taylor's eyes narrowed

Lily shook her head and Dana laughed

"Don't worry Tay" said Tori he does it to all of us "I'm a dolphin, Lil's a cheetah and Dana's a bee"

Taylor smiled and said "You've studied Kung-fu haven't you?"

R.J was taken aback and Lily gasped while Tori and Dana were confused.

"Certain Kung-fu schools believe that everyone has an animal spirit that guides them" said Taylor answering their questioning looks

"Very perceptive" said R.J "And you're quiet right for that you can order whatever you want on the house"

"You really don't have to do that"

"Of course I don't have to but I want to, just call Theo when you're ready to order" he said smiling before disappearing behind a door near the counter.

"Theo works here as well?"

"Uh yeah, you see we both live in Ocean Bluff a couple of miles south from here and when we got accepted here uncle R.J offered to let him stay with us and we both sort of ended up working part time here" explained Lily.

They eventually ordered and continued talking and laughing for what seemed like hours till Lily had to take over for Theo and the rest decided to go home.

Taylor had almost completely forgotten about her run in with Eric till later that night when all four girls were sitting in their living room talking about their day while enjoying some hot chocolate.

Tori has just finished telling them about Nadira's latest fit at practice and they were all rolling on the floor from laughing so much. When she caught her breath Z turned to Taylor who was sitting with her back against the couch

"Speaking of practices Sky told me what happened at the soccer field today"

Taylor groaned while Tori and Madison looked up with interest

"What happened?" asked Madison

"Yeah I was right across the field I didn't see anything" added Tori

"Would you like to tell it or sh…"

"There's nothing top tell" said Taylor through clenched teeth

"Aw c'mon Tay don't leave us hanging"

"Never mind her, C'mon Z tell us"

"She's right there isn't much to tell" began Z glancing at Taylor who was determinedly not looking at her before turning back to the others

"It's just that somebody sent a near perfect shot at a certain Eric Myers"

All three girls turned to look at Taylor

"You didn't" exclaimed Madison"

"Oh but she did"

"When did this happen?"

Taylor murmured something from behind her mug while making a point to look out of the window.

"Uh Tay could you repeat that so us normal people can hear"

Taylor sighed put down her mug and turned to her friends

"After you guys left" she said looking at Tori

"Why?" asked Madison

Taylor sighed again and related to them the short version of what happened earlier in the day.

"Wow" said Tori "I never knew Eric could be..."

"Such a jerk" offered Taylor

"I was going to say impatient and rude then I guess this does count as jerkish behavior"

She added quickly seeing the look on Taylor's face

"I don't get why does everyone insist on taking up for this guy? he's arrogant, rude and infuriating"

The other three glanced at each other nervously

"What?"

"Sorry Tay don't take this the wrong way but" Tori began

"But?"

"You're probably the only girl in school who talks about him that way" Madison continued

"And it's weird for us cause we've never seen that side of him and ever since we've started school we've heard nothing but praises when it comes to him"

"Yeah" said Z "you're probably the only person who hates him"

"Hate is a very strong word" Madison put in.

"Or maybe" Z continued "You really like him and you just don't want to admit it"

"Interesting"

Taylor scoffed "Get real, I rather date a T-rex"

The others laughed as Taylor got off the floor and headed into the kitchen with her empty mug.

"Tay" said Madison quietly as she came up behind her with the other mugs

"It's cool Maddie" she said as she rinsed her mug and set it down on the counter

"But…"

"It's fine but let's not mention this again shall we"

"Deal"

"Night"

"Good night"

Once in her room Taylor glanced over at Buddy who was lying on his bed in the corner of the room, he raised his head as she entered and then drifted off to sleep, she sat on her bed and held her face in her hands for a moment them pulled her legs upto her chest and hugged herself. She was wearing sky blue pajamas with a cloud print and her hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail.

She sighed and relaxed her posture letting her arms rest on her knees and her head on her arms as she turned to look out the glass doors that cut off the balcony from the room, the moon was barely visible as were the few stars she could make out.

She just couldn't understand what was going on, sure her temper flew off the handle now and then but she was supposed to be on top of that especially after what happened in junior high. Then again the guy was a jerk well at least he was rude and arrogant and today's incident definitely counted against him but she couldn't get why she was the only person who saw it even Alyssa laughed it off as temperamental behavior and wasn't she well at least according to Leo able to read people really well.

She sighed again and shook her head it was all so frustrating if she wasn't careful things would end up just like they did with Alex and she was sure that was one piece of history she did not want repeating itself.

* * *

I'm really sorry for taking so long, but I've finally got things sorted and have been able to frame the story according to most of the requests I've gotten and I'm pretty sure all the glitches with my internet connection have been fixed so the updates should be more frequent now.

Thanks for waiting

Please review.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Eric Myers looked around as he jogged through Turtle Cove Park, it wasn't his usual trail and not exactly close to home but he needed a change of scenery. His Alsatian, Shadow, ran happily by his side eager to explore this new place. Ryan usually joined him on his morning run down by the beach or through the park back in Silver Hills, trails he could run with his eyes closed.

Today however he needed something different, something new that would force him to concentrate so his mind wouldn't wander. He had very conveniently left his cell phone at home knowing that Ryan would call when he didn't turn up and he just wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone.

He took a turn and soon found himself all alone except for Shadow who was running ahead of him, the trees in this part of the park wee closer together casting shadows along the path making it look almost like a forest, it was definitely more unkempt than the rest of the park, he figured that most people didn't take this trail which suited him just fine.

Its not that he didn't like being around people just not too many but right now being alone was just what he needed.

He knew he had to go home and face reality soon enough but for now he just wanted to think of something else. He couldn't help but marvel at how things had changed in the last ten years and if truth be told he didn't like it and there wasn't much he could do to change it not without hurting the people close to him.

He sighed and continued running lost in thought. It had been ten years now, ten long years since his mom had died and he still had troubled dealing with and he just couldn't understand why, sometimes he even found himself blaming her for leaving them, for letting things change as they did and every time he was mad at himself for even daring to think like that. But now when he looked a little closer he could see that it wasn't her death he couldn't deal with it, he had missed her terribly those first few years but eventually he came to terms with it, he was more upset with what had changed after she was gone.

His dad had thrown himself completely into his work soon after leaving Phillips, the family butler to look after him and Wes. For a couple of years they rarely saw him but things got better after that and he started spending more time with them, it gave him the hope that things would be fine from then on.

And they were for the most part then two years ago things changed again, it was when "she" walked into their lives. He and Wes has both agreed that they would be fine with it if their dad started dating again, the alternative was seeing him mope around the house on quiet evenings lost in thought.

And at first he didn't mind it so much but from the first time he met her there was something not quite right about her at least that's what he thought. Wes seemed to like her enough though. Sure was sweet and nice to them and all that but he couldn't help but see something more sinister behind her over exaggerated smiles.

He was happy is dad had found someone he loved, not the same way he had loved their mom or least that's what he had said the night they announced their engagement. But he couldn't help but wonder if she really loved him as she said she did.

And before he knew it he found himself with a new stepmom. Wes adapted to this change soon enough and was his usual happy self, nothing had really changed for him, he had always gotten whatever he wanted, he was 'a little prince' as he often good naturedly teased his younger brother who did have the tendency to live in a little ivory tower of his own most of the time. Thankfully he seemed to be slowly climbing down its stairs.

As for him well things definitely didn't stay the same, she left him alone in the beginning but as he got older she began to throw him into social circles he did not want to be a part of, something neither of his parents had insisted on, he was free to choose his own friends and had definitely had a choice in what he did with his life but apparently not anymore, she was quite insistent that he take up after his father. His attendance at high society parties was hadn't much of a necessity for two years, then suddenly he found himself having to dress up and attend each and every one of them where he was forced to make polite conversation with the daughters of almost every high ended businessman there.

His father who was quite open minded with regard to such matters seemed to have a sudden change of heart and supported his new wife wholeheartedly though there were still a few things he didn't know.

Never having been one to take things lying down, this was one time where he found himself helpless with his father and brother on the line so to speak. She even threatened to fire Phillips, something he would never let happen even if it meant conforming to his witch of a stepmother.

Why exactly she had taken such a keen interest in him was a completely mystery, though Phillips had his theories but he wasn't sharing.

He shook his head vigorously, this was exactly what he didn't want to think about, what he wanted to get away from before he had to go home and deal with it.

He was brought out of his musings when he heard a loud yelp. For the first time he look a good look at his surroundings, he was surrounded by trees growing close together on all sides he couldn't even find the trail he was on the ground was littered with dried fallen leaves in the center was hole that looked liked a dried up pond.

He heard another loud yelp and his first instinct was to look around for Shadow but he was nowhere to be found. He walked over to the pond and looked down, caught in a tangle of what was left of the pond weed was a beautiful golden retriever who couldn't have been more than a year old. He carefully slid down the slope slightly scraping his arm. The dog whined as he got close.

"Easy there boy" he said softly trying to calm him down as he carefully untangled his paws from the weed. As soon as he was free the dog raced to the top.

As soon as Eric climbed out he jumped on him happily, trying to lick his face and then continuing to jump around him.

"Alright, I get it you're welcome" said Eric laughing at his enthusiasm, he bent down to pet him and he wagged his tail.

"So do you know the way outta here?" he asked as he scratched him behind the ears.

It seemed like the dog understood him because the moment he said it he barked and took off through the trees. Eric followed not exactly sure where he was going. After a couple of minutes the trail began to feel familiar and soon he was back at the parking lot, and there standing beside his truck was Shadow.

Shadow ran forward eagerly to greet him before sharing a playful bout with the other dog.

"Glad to see you two like each other"

They both barked as if they agreed with him.

"Looks like we're even" he said petting the dog again" Now lets see if we can find out who you belong to"

He reached for the tag on is collar but at that moment his ears shot up as if he heard someone call him and he took off pausing for a second to bark once more before heading back into the park.

"Looks like he knows where he's going"

He fished in his pockets for his keys hoping he hadn't dropped them back at the pond he wasn't looking forward to going back there.

"You ready to go home?" he asked Shadow whose response was to bark and then jump into the car as soon as he opened the door.

* * *

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	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"You're back late" said Tori as Taylor entered the house.

"Buddy got into a bit of a scuffle at the park, so we took him to the vet to make sure he's okay"

"He fought with another dog?"

"Don't know, he just ran off as usual and when he came back he was covered in scratches. By the way weren't you supposed to be going out?"

"Blake canceled, his brother's in town for the weekend so they're gone riding, and I'm as so bored" she said crashing into the couch.

"Where are the others?" Taylor asked leaning against the door frame of their living room.

"Maddie's at work and Z's out trying her new camera, so it's just us"

"Actually there's somewhere I've wanted to go ever since I got back, you're welcome to come along"

"Sure it's not like I have anything better to do"

15 minutes later they were both sitting in Tori's van driving towards the edge of town.

Tori sighed and turned to her companion

"I'm sorry I'm being so sour it's just that well…"

"You planned your whole day out and now it's all washed out" said Taylor smiling

"Yeah, pretty much" said Tori almost laughing

Taylor turned to look out of the window, her chin resting in the palm of her hand as looking out at the familiar scenery pass by.

"So where are we going anyways? We're almost out of town and I'm pretty sure the woods are somewhere down here"

"That's right just turn left here and we'll be there"

Tori took a sharp left and entered a large parking lot, she parked in the nearest available spot and then followed Taylor down to a large building with what looked like huge glass domes behind it.

The signboard on the front bore the legend 'The Animarium'

"The Animarium" whispered Tori as walked through the glass front doors

"What is this place?"

"It's a nature preserve center. I used to come here all the time"

"It looks amazing"

"You haven't even seen the best part yet"

"How may I help you?" the receptionist asked them as the walked towards her desk

"Taylor?"

The three of them turned to see a tall woman with light brown curly hair walk towards them wearing a greenish brown suit.

"Mrs. Masters" said Taylor shaking her hand "It's nice to see you again"

"Yes it is, it's been a long time since you last came here"

"A very long time, uh… this is my friend Tori; Tor Mrs. Masters runs this place"

"It's nice to meet you, this is place is amazing"

"Thank you, but just wait till Taylor shows you the rest of this place"

"Uh… excuse me m'am but…'

"Oh yes excuse me girls I have a meeting to get to, but you go ahead and take a look around, and Taylor if your planning on coming back to us do let me know we could use your help"

"Sure"

"Oh and Trey and Maya are with the birds" she called as she hurried down the corridor"

"What did she mean by that?" asked Tori after they had gotten their visitors badges and were now walking past several exhibit halls.

"I used to come and volunteer around here when I was in junior high but I think she just offered me a job"

"And…"

"And what?"

"Are you going to do it?"

"Don't know"

"So where are we anyways?"

"We just passed the exhibit halls that's the information centre" she gestured through the window to building that resembled a threes storey house.

"Wow" said Tori as they stepped out of an elevator onto a skywalk overlooking the entire property

"It looks just like a real forest, in a snow globe that is"

"That's because it is. This place is right at the edge of the woods of the plants here were part of it, except for the botanical gardens over there" she gestured to one of the other domes.

"So what's with the domes?"

"They regulate the environment, especially keeping the pollution away, that's why there are five of them the Aquarium, Avery, reptiles, wild animals and the Botanical gardens" she pointed out each in turn

"And even the containment units within each dome has regulators so that the environment of the animals isn't disturbed especially for those that thy release back into the wild, the aquarium is even connected to the harbor"

"That's really cool, can we go there"

Taylor smiled "sure after we say hello to some old friends of mine"

Soon they were walking along a path through the Avery, every now and then a bird would fly past.

"I thought they'd all be in cages"

"No, different species of birds have their nests in the same areas, where their fed but most of them fly around for the most part a few of them who prefer a certain kind of climate"

"You sure know a lot about this place"

"I've been coming here ever since I was a kid and this was one of my most favorite places"

"Why am I not surprised"

"Hey I don't think we're supposed to go off the path" yelled Tori as Taylor walked straight into the woods ignoring the winding path

"Its fine, come on" she called

"Are you sure you know where you're going?" Tori asked after they had been walking through the woods for a couple of minutes

"Of course I do"

At that moment a beautiful golden brown eagle came flying through the trees making Tori duck

"What was that?"

"An eagle"

"Don't they prefer heights or something?"

"They do" said Taylor as she walked towards the tree where the eagle was now perched "but that doesn't mean they can't come down here if they want to"

"Suppose so, that one did scare the heck out of me but I have to admit it is a beauty"

"That he is and he seems very familiar"

"Hey" they someone shout

The girls turn to see a boy coming towards them, he was tall well built and had light brown hair. He wore brown cargo pants with a black T-shirt with an unbuttoned yellow shirt which had the animarium logo on the left and an Id around his neck.

"You're not…. Supposed… to… be here" he said in between pants.

"Looks like someone's way out of shape huh Trey"

The boy stared at her and she stared back folding her arms in front of her while Tori looked from one to the other

"Taylor?"

"Yes"

"It is you" he said smiling as he walked over to give her a hug

"Who did you think it was?"

"Oh just some other crazy kid who thought it would be fun to go walking through the woods and decided to drag her friend along with her"

"Very funny. Trey Tori, Tori Trey"

"Its nice to meet you" he said as he shook her hand and Tori nodded.

"So what are you doing here?" he turned back to Taylor

"Can't a girl drop in to say hi to her friends?"

"And that's why you're here ….right, well come on then Maya's waiting"

He turned to leave but stopped

"You coming Egan?"

"Egan" repeated Taylor immediately turning to look at the eagle again who screeched happily before taking off and flying ahead of them.

"Was that really him?"

"Why else do you think he came out here?"

"But shouldn't he be gone by now"

"Thing is he won't "

"Huh"

Trey shrugged "You get a weird one in every bunch… ah here we are"

He lead the way into clearing surrounded by extremely tall trees, in the very center was a large cage with a small tree growing through it.

"What took you so long?" asked a woman, she had long messy light brown hair and amber eyes. She wore a beige tank top under her yellow shirt over black pants.

"Taylor?"

"Hey Maya" she said as she gave the older woman a hug.

"It's been a long time hasn't it"

"Too long, I've really missed this place"

"And we've missed you, especially Egan"

"Wow this place is really something"

"Whose you're friend?"

"Maya this is Tori, Tori Maya"

"Nice to meet you Tori"

"You too"

"Who's that guy?" she asked pointing out to an eagle that was flying around the tree in the cage

"We don't name the eagles" Trey answered

" Huh"

"The eagles here are the ones that have been hurt and rescued, once their deemed fit enough their released back into the wild, so there's no sense in naming them, their just tagged so that they can be identified" Taylor explained

"But what about…"

"This one" said Maya referring to Egan who had now perched himself on her gloved hand "He's special, his kind isn't commonly found in these parts, but somehow he ended up with a crushed wing down by the stream in the woods and Taylor's the one who found him and brought him here. He was in a pretty bad state and took a while to heal, Taylor came to see him almost everyday and she and Trey named him and he's grew fond of her"

Egan screeched and flew over to Taylor who accepted the glove Maya handed her and let him perch on her hand as she stroked his feathers.

"By the time he was fully healed" she continued "Taylor had already left and when we took him out along with the others he refused to leave, we even tried locking him out, he just std there till we let him back in so no now he's our only permanent resident eagle."

"So that's why he's the only one with a name?"

"Yeah, naming them increases familiarity so we try not to name the ones that we release back into the wild that way they don't get attached"

"By the way Tay did you run into Mrs. M?"

"Yeah when we first came in"

"Did she offer you a job yet?"

"How did you…"

"She's been looking for someone for a while, ever since Sera quit"

"Yeah all the new applicants we got filled up the other sections their afraid the birds will dive bomb them"

"So are you going to do it or what?"

"Can't think of a reason not to"

Egan screeched and they all laughed

"Okay guys, we're gonna go see the fish" said Taylor as she raised her arm letting Egan fly off and handed the glove back to Maya

"I'll see you around okay"

"See ya"

"So long, it was nice to meet you guys and you too Egan

"Come back anytime Tori"

"Thanks" said Tori as they left the dome surrounding the Avery and headed down a passage towards the aquarium where they were greeted by people in blue shirts.

"Are those their uniforms?"

"Yeah, each section has a different color, it's yellow for the avery, blue for the aquarium, red for the gardens, green for the reptiles, black for the animals, the guys in the clinic wear white and the administration wears brown and everyone gets their name printed on the back"

"Cool"

"So where do you want to go first"

"Do they have dolphins?"

"They used to"

"Then what are we waiting for, let's go"

* * *

I hope you like it. Pease review.


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